Alaska News

Seattle University School of Law set to open satellite campus in Anchorage this fall

The Seattle University School of Law has received approval from the American Bar Association to open a satellite campus in Anchorage, solidifying the school's timeline to begin classes this fall in the only state without a law school.

Alaska Pacific University will house the satellite campus, staffed by a professor from Seattle University and adjunct professors drawn from Alaska's legal community, said Katherine Hedland Hansen, spokeswoman for the Seattle University School of Law.

Hansen said Friday that contracts with the adjunct professors had not yet been finalized. The ABA approved the satellite campus last week. Fall semester classes will begin in August.

Students from both inside and outside the Seattle University School of Law can opt to complete their third year of schooling at the Anchorage campus. The curriculum will focus on learning Alaska law and completing externships, Hansen said.

Organizers of the satellite campus have said they expect to begin the program with 10 to 15 students per year, in hopes that it will produce more homegrown Alaska lawyers.

Seattle University School of Law's decision to expand comes at a time when enrollment in law schools nationwide is shrinking, according to a recent report from the ABA. Total law school enrollment in 2014, it said, was at its lowest since 1987.

Tegan Hanlon

Tegan Hanlon was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News between 2013 and 2019. She now reports for Alaska Public Media.

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