Women are 52% of the voting population, yet they are significantly under-represented in our nation's policy making bodies at every level of elective office. To help remedy this historic imbalance, the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, has developed a model program to inspire, educate and empower the next generation of women leaders. This program, called National Education for Women's Leadership (NEW Leadership), emphasizes possibilities and opportunities for women to take active and powerful roles in public leadership.

NEW Leadership challenges women to think critically and creatively about public policy and encourages them to make a commitment to public leadership and public service early in their careers. To date, more than 3500 women from 21 states have participated in NEW Leadership Summer Institutes. Tri-College NEW Leadership Development Institute is currently one of 18 institutionalized programs nationally.

Tri-College University partners with Concordia College, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and North Dakota State University to offer the empowering National Education for Women's (NEW) Leadership Development Institute annually.