The UA system's three universities (UAA, UAF, and UAS) are separately accredited institutions with extended community campuses and learning centers across the state of Alaska. System-wide, nearly 31,000 full- and part-time students are enrolled, studying among 400 unique degrees, certificate, or endorsement programs. Study areas include short-course workforce training, associate degrees, bachelor's and master's degrees, and doctorates. Programs include a wide array of sciences, engineering, teacher and early childhood education, business, journalism and communications, aviation, health occupations, history, English, the arts and humanities, and many others. All three university centers also deliver extensive e-Learning instruction anywhere students are located.
UA Statewide provides system-wide support for all university operations and enables each regional university center to meet the University of Alaska's mission and each institutional mission. In addition to providing system leadership, governance, and strategic vision, Statewide functions include compliance, accountability, coordination, service, management of external relationships, and stewardship of shared strategic resources. Per the Alaska Constitution, an 11-member board of regents governs the system. The system president serves as the board's chief executive officer. Chancellors for each of the universities—UAA, UAF, and UAS—report to the president. The university employs roughly 7,000 people and contributes an estimated $1 billion annually to the Alaska economy.
Attending the University of Alaska is possible, whether you're a recent high school graduate, are looking to return to college to enter a new career, or are planning to finish a degree for personal or professional growth. A significant concern for all students is, "How am I going to pay for this?" The campus financial aid offices can assist students in applying for education funding. There are many federal, state, and private resources available through the university to help pay for education, and there's a helpful financial aid staff that can assist you in determining which alternative will be the best choice for you. Also, the University of Alaska Foundation offers more than $3 million in scholarship awards annually, making higher education possible for any student who seeks it.
Do not let distance or a crazy work schedule get in the way of your education. Online college degrees and education programs allow you to work around a busy life from anywhere in the world and still get a high-quality education.
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The three main campuses of the University of Alaska System provide undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, occupational endorsements, and courses, which may be completed entirely online or in blended formats. Alaska presents a formidable landscape for a university system: a landmass one-fifth the continental United States campuses' size thousands of miles apart and weather that would shut down most Lower 48 schools. But this vast environment of the rainforest, tundra, coastal shores, and mountains is home to the University of Alaska system, established in 1917.
The university system started as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines in Fairbanks, later renamed the University of Alaska. That first year, the campus was a single two-story frame building and had just six students. The school was renamed the University of Alaska in 1935.
In 1954, Anchorage Community College (now known as the University of Alaska Anchorage) was incorporated into the University of Alaska. That next year, Juneau Community College was established and was later named the University of Alaska Southeast.
The University of Alaska is a land-, sea- and space-grant system. UA acquired land through acts of Congress in 1915 and 1929 and land settlements with the State of Alaska in the 1980s. In addition to the annual federal appropriations land-grant institutions receive for research and extension work, UA develops, leases, and sells land, the proceeds of which are used for numerous natural resources-related research and academic projects, including the UA Scholars scholarship program.
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