Former Alaskan and Juneauite here. That would be the death knell of the system. Most Juneauites and other SE Alaskans are not going to go all the way to Fairbanks to college (there aren’t even any direct flights) when they can go down and study at 25+ different schools in the WUE for essentially the same price. Western Washington in Bellingham is probably more popular with Juneauites than UAF these days. Juneau is closer to Seattle than it is to Fairbanks.
Same thing with UAA but to a lesser degree. I can’t imagine they would ever close UAA in favor of UAF but what do I know. UAA is over twice as big as UAF. But if they did a lot of those students would just go out of state rather than to Fairbanks.
And if Alaska sends too many of its kids out of state, a large number will never return.
Why, if there is a campus merger, would he want it all to merge into Fairbanks (instead of Anchorage, which already has about half of the University of Alaska students, and is located in by far the largest city, which would keep the largest number of students in commuting range)?
UAF is the main flagship campus with I think the majority of PhD programs if I’m not mistaken. UAA is more of a big undergrad commuter school. There has always been tension between the two. And there is also reluctance on the the part of the rest of the state to give too much stuff to Anchorage.
I don’t know what they are really talking about. Whether it is an administrative consolidation with the three campuses left under a single administration but still operating in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks. Or if they are actually talking about consolidating all higher education in Fairbanks, which would be utterly absurd but not beyond the crazy politics up there.
The main problem is that for a high percentage of HS grads from middle class background, college is the perfect time to go explore life on the “outside” especially since the WUE program provides affordable options in about 10 western states. And why would you to UAA if you can attend one of the big public flagships on the west coast?
So they end up with a lot of non-traditional students poking away at degrees while working in careers and that sort of thing while the top students all go south.
UAFairbanks, UAAnchorage, and UASoutheast are all currently three separately accredited universities with different missions (respectively research university, open-access/master’s comprehensive university, and liberal arts college with very limited graduate-level offerings), and each of them has a scattering of branch campuses where a limited set of lower-division courses are taught. Any merging of Southeast would cut the Alaska system down to two accredited universities (Southeast would become a branch campus where—presumably—both lower-and upper-division courses would be taught). The system president has made no secret of wanting Fairbanks to be the only public university in the state, with Southeast and Anchorage becoming branch campuses.
ETA: And Southeast and/or Anchorage becoming branch campuses of Fairbanks would likely mean the end of all graduate programs at those campuses.
The only non-Alaska west coast flagship with WUE discount is University of Hawaii. The flagships in Washington, Oregon, and California do not offer WUE discounts.
But then there are west coast non-flagships with WUE discounts, like Western Washington University, Portland State University, and Humboldt State University.
I was using “west coast” more loosely. You are right, UW, UO, OSU, and the UC schools don’t participate. But you still have (for at least some majors)
Washington State
University of Utah
University of Arizona
Arizona State
New Mexico
New Mexico State
Colorado State
Montana
Montana State
Idaho
Boise State
Most if not all of the Cal State schools and some Cal Poly campuses
Point being, Alaska students have a LOT of choices and the University of Alaska is doing a very poor job of competing with all of those choices. Maybe they figure they don’t have to. But it is sure going to result in a generational brain drain as those kids leave and don’t come back.
Agreed—since talking recently to a good friend of mine who went there back in the day, I’ve been wondering whether St John’s is going to be able to continue having Annapolis and Santa Fe campuses.
St John’s college will be one of those to watch when their financials are out for end of June. Most universities year end of June 30th this will be interesting to watch.
I thought it was interesting that Johnson and Wales – a culinary school – is closing the two campuses not only because of COVID, but also after a thorough demographics study.
It appears that there was a drop in birth rates during/after 2008 recession. Fast forward to today, and schools have to deal with simply fewer high school graduates to look forward to. Add to that the cost/specialized nature of J&W, and it’s a very rational decision.
A decision other, more traditional schools, will likely to come to as well. Between too many schools, too few students and Covid – things may look quite grim for many colleges.
Johnson and Wales in Denver was trying to become more than just a cooking school and I think was having a little trouble doing that. It started offering D2 sports and was trying to have a traditional campus.
Saint Leo University was supposed to takeover Wesley College in Delaware but now Delaware State is in talks. Seems even Saint Leo is closing satellite campuses/locations
The birth rate decline after 2008 is well know. Unfortunately, some schools kept building and growing like there wouldn’t be a decline. 2026 was supposed to be a sort of reckoning when enrollment would drop off a cliff. Now it might be sooner.
A second problem is the distribution of colleges which are most densely packed into the Northeast and Midwest which are the two slowest growing (or even shrinking) regions of the country. Whereas all the fast growing regions of they country, especially the sunbelt and west are bursting at the seams. Which colleges in California are in danger of closing? The state schools are all overflowing and the reputable privates are becoming increasingly selective. Sure some niche colleges like Mills are struggling. But not Stanford, USC, Pomoma etc. which are all exceedingly more selective than they were two decades ago. As are UCLA, UCSD, UCB etc. Even the mid-level Catholic schools like Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount are getting increasingly competitive.
Here in WA our flagship UW is at least twice as difficult to get into as it was a generation ago. And the top liberal arts schools like Reed and Whitman are doing just fine. The regional branch colleges like WSU-Vancouver are also growing fast. But our population has also increased by about 2 million in the past 20 years without any new colleges or universities being built. So it is an opposite problem of a state like PA where the student population has actually dropped in the past two decades, especially outside the two major population centers. Few students here in WA have the resources or interest to go across the country to say Swarthmore or Bryn Mawr just to balance out the demographics. Must less some far less prestigious school out there.