By request of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the General Accounting Office (GAO) verified the number of full-time equivalent Indian students reported as attending 12 tribally controlled community colleges during the 1980-1981 academic year and obtained college officials' opinions on the benefits of the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act (1978) and their concerns about the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) implementation of the act. The GAO review was limited to 11 colleges funded in 1980 plus the Navajo Community College. GAO found discrepancies in the full-time equivalent Indian student counts reported by 10 of the 11 colleges. GAO noted that the colleges had not required adequate evidence that all students were eligible Indians, had not maintained up-to-date enrollment data, or had made counting errors. While college officials were unanimous in their support of the act's concept, they raised issues concerning its implementation and funding. Their concerns involved reduction in funds, failure to count Indian students not members of federally recognized tribes, BIA delays in certifying that students are Indians, the formula used for computing full-time equivalent Indian students, the cutoff date for computation, lack of funds for needed college activities, and funding of the Navajo Community College. (CM)