Tuition at the University of Alaska system is lower than average for students on a four-year degree track, but students looking for a two-year degree pay more here than elsewhere, according to new numbers from CollegeBoard, a national nonprofit that keeps track of college costs.
Broadly speaking, and with some exceptions, university courses cost more than community college courses. But in Alaska, all courses are part of the university system.
"If you compare us to other community colleges, we are high. If you compare us to universities, we're low," said Dennis Clark, director of the University of Alaska Anchorage's Mat-Su College.
Annual tuition and fees at the average four-year public college are $5,836 this year, according to CollegeBoard. UA schools cost $3,825 a year. That's attractively priced for a university.
But at community two-year degree schools, the average annual tuition and fees cost $2,272. That means costs to UA students looking for two-year degrees are on the higher end nationally.
Alaska once had a community college system separate from the UA system. But UA absorbed the community colleges in the 1980s, creating instead a network of 12 Alaska campuses. Two of those, Prince William Sound and Kodiak, offer reduced tuition rates, said Kate Ripley, a university system spokeswoman. The community campuses are branches of the University of Alaska and students there can take classes toward four-year degrees as well as earn two-year associate degrees.
About 20 percent of UA students are on an associate-degree track, she said, in programs such as business administration, dental assistant, culinary arts and air traffic control.
Saichi Oba, assistant vice president for student and enrollment services with UA, is leading a task force studying what would happen if smaller campuses outside of Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau were to decrease tuition, bringing them more in line with community colleges elsewhere.
Oba and others looked at several options for decreasing tuition. One was to hold community campus tuition steady while tuition at other university sites increased. Another was to cut community campus tuition by 25 percent. In each case, there were problems.
"As we decrease the revenue by tuition, they would have to increase enrollment -- we are talking about 10 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent," Oba said. "It's very difficult to increase enrollment anywhere with double digits."
Outside community colleges are structured differently than UA, making it easier for them to keep tuition down. Many of them are subsidized by the cities where they are located. This isn't possible in Alaska, where they are situated in very small communities, Ripley said.
Alaska students get more for the higher tuition, with access to resources that may not be available at community colleges elsewhere, Ripley said. And the community campuses allow people to pursue degrees close to home.
Sharmin Oathout, 37, a student in the dental hygiene program, chose UAA because it was most convenient for her. Tuition wasn't her first concern.
"With having three kids, I don't have the option to move," she said.
Ryan Staten, 23, is studying to be a paramedic at Kenai Peninsula College. Before starting the program, he shopped around for programs Outside. The university required more classes than Outside programs for the degree but was also big enough to offer more. Then he got hired as a firefighter and now works full time. With moving no longer possible, the university seemed like a great option. In the end, he thinks he'll get a better education.
"What you are getting in Alaska is proximity," Ripley said. "That's the trade-off: You pay higher tuition than you get Outside because you have that proximity."
Gary Turner, director of Kenai Peninsula College, said he'd love to reduce tuition, but only if there were another source of revenue to make up the difference. It makes more sense to give need-based financial aid to students system-wide, he said. Currently the university system offers very little financial aid based on need.
"When I have a student who comes to our campus, she might come from a family that's well-to-do; decreasing tuition would help her and her family," he said. "But when I look at a single mom working 40 hours a week, I think she's going to need it more."
Daily News reporter Julia O'Malley can be reached at jomalley@adn.com or 257-4325.
