Mat-Su College shows strong enrollment, up 25% this year

Mat-Su College outperformed every other major part of the University of Alaska system in its rate of growth this year, according to data given the university’s Board of Regents at its September meeting.

Fall 2024 enrollment is 25% up from fall, 2023, according to the Regents’ data. While the numbers of students are relatively small – 922 students last year up to 1,304 this year – compared with the university’s main campuses in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, the rate of increase is significant.

That’s because it indicates the state’s economy has emerged from the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 when enrollment dropped across the University of Alaska system when the state economy slowed. The increase also reflects continuing population growth in the Mat-Su region, which the college serves. Many Alaska communities are seeing population declines.

The growth appears to be mostly young people just beginning their college work as indicated by more lower-level math and composition classes being taken that are required of new students, said Dr. Marie Gardner, the college’s director.

These would likely be people who had to delay college during the pandemic years. With the state’s economy stronger they now want to catch up.

In two to four years, depending on what kind of degree is being sought, these students will be ready to join the state’s workforce, where new workers are badly needed.

Dr. Gardner’s appointment as director was announced last September to replace Talis Colberg, Mat-Su College’s long-time director and former state Attorney General, who retired. Prior to her Alaska appointment Dr. Gardner was dean for the Neosho County Community College in Ottawa, Kansas. She has 30 years of experience in higher education.

Mat-Su College’s growth in 2024 is important because it is happening in the one part of Alaska where the regional population is increasing, with the college serving that growth.

In contrast to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Southeast Alaska and most other parts of the state are seeing gradual losses of population and a drain of working-age adults out of state, particularly younger ones. A good university system can help stem that drain and the state Legislature and Gov. Mike Dunleavy have been putting more resources into the university in recent years.

Although four-year degree programs are offered at Mat-Su College it has mostly been a community college-type institution over the years with a focus on two-year Associate degrees since its beginning in 1958. The college now offers a variety of two and four-year programs.

When Mat-Su College was founded, in the year before Alaska statehood, Alaska’s higher education system was in its early stages. The University of Alaska existed but only at its Fairbanks campus.

The UA system is now three universities with University of Alaska Anchorage, of which Mat-Su College is a part; the University of Alaska Southeast and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. These institutions came long after Mat-Su College, as did the smaller campuses that operate in many communities under the umbrella of the university system.

Since its beginning Mat-Su has focused on building basic workforce skills needed by local employers but in recent years the college has developed a focus in nursing and health sciences degree problems along with training in a number of occupational skills, with certificates issued. The school recently expanded its nursing program, which is mostly two-year degree programs, to offer a four year Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Traditionally, the college has served as a “feeder” to the larger UA campuses in Anchorage and Fairbanks with many students from Mat-Su taking basic undergraduate courses close to home and then moving to more advanced studies at the Anchorage or Fairbanks campuses.

But things are changing. Given the advent of distance learning and the growing flexibility of the university’s degree programs Mat-Su students can now be enrolled in advanced degrees at UAA and UAF through Mat-Su College without having to leave home.

Mat-Su College is the second-largest of the university’s community college-type institutions. Only the Kenai Peninsula College is larger. What’s different about Mat-Su, however, is that most of the larger satellite campuses are in communities with industries that rely on the local colleges for specialized training.

Kenai, for example, was where Alaska’s modern petroleum industry started and its Kenai Peninsula College is known for its petroleum operators’ training and close ties with local oil and gas service companies.

Similarly, the university’s Kodiak, Ketchikan and Sitka campuses, which are smaller than Mat-Su, provide education in support of local fisheries and the U.S. Coast Guard, which has stations in all three communities. The small Chukchi campus, in Kotzebue, works with operators of the large Red Dog Mine, also in northwest Alaska, to providing training for local residents planning to work at the mine.

The university’s Northwest campus in Nome works with regional aviation and marine transportation companies who use Nome as a regional “hub.” It also offers a health care curriculum in coordination with the local hospital.

Mat-Su has a strong health care community that is similarly supported by its but there is no major “blue collar” industry in the region, at least yet. The college supports the higher education needs of what is largely a residential community.