Alaska News

Tuition, fees to increase at state’s vocational training center

It could get more expensive to attend the state-owned vocational training school in Seward.

On Friday, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development released details of a plan to raise fees at the only state-owned postsecondary training school by 4% every year for the next three years.

The cost of attending one 19-week term would increase to $2,642 starting July 1, 2020. The same course in July 2022 would cost $2,858.

The department also plans to raise administrative fees and fees for housing at the school.

The Alaska Vocational Technical Center, better known as AVTEC, was founded in 1969 to train Alaskans for the oil industry. Its catalog of courses has since expanded, and it now offers classes in subjects like culinary arts and office technology.

Though part of the Department of Labor rather than the state’s education system, the AVTEC tuition and fee increases are similar to those under consideration by the University of Alaska. Last week, the university system’s Board of Regents postponed consideration of a 5% tuition increase.

Funding for the Department of Labor was mostly unchanged by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the Alaska Legislature in this year’s state operating budget.

James Brooks

James Brooks was a Juneau-based reporter for the ADN from 2018 to May 2022.

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