University of Alaska enrollment gaining; Mat-Su College shows strongest growth

The University of Alaska has turned the corner on student enrollments, ending years of decline. University of Alaska Fairbanks, or UAF, the historic first college formed in the system in 1917, is showing the strongest growth of the three universities in the UA system.

However, enrollment is also up sharply at Mat-Su College, which serves the Matanuska-Susitna Borough as part of the University of Alaska Anchorage, or UAA.

Preliminary course registration at Mat-Su College for the fall semester is up 31.5%, according to university data. The student “headcount,” or number of students enrolled, was at 1,304 in late August, just before the start of classes. That compares with 992 students signed up a year earlier, in late August 2023.

UAA overall saw a 1.7% increase in students registering for classes, according to the data. UAF, the university’s main research center that attracts substantial federal funding, experienced 3.1% growth. The University of Alaska Southeast, or UAS, saw a 3.9% increase.

The university overall, including all three campuses, was up 2.1%. Each of the three universities also serves outlying campuses, such as Ketchikan and Sitka being part of UAS, and Mat-Su, Kenai, Kodiak and Prince William Sound being part of UAA.

In general, the university continues to see a trend of steady recovery from sharp budget cuts ordered by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2019, which hit the University of Alaska Fairbanks hardest but affected all campuses.

The cuts caused a major loss of experienced faculty across the UA system that were followed by declines in enrollment. Budgets have been gradually strengthened and enrollment is now increasing.

Near the start of the university’s fall 2024 classes, 16,868 students were registered in the University of Alaska system for 162,762 student credit hours, the university’s Board of Regents was told last at its September meeting. This represents a 2.1% increase in headcount (344) and a 4.2 % increase in credit hours registration (6,499) year-over-year. The credit hours are important because they represent tuition revenue to the university, which is paid on a credit-hour basis.

Significantly, over 13,000 applications were made to UA for the fall 2024 semester, up 20.3% from applications made for fall 2023, although not all applicants followed through with actual registration. Still, it signals strong interest in the university.

UAF showed the biggest gain in new applications at 50.6% year-over-year. UAA saw a 5.4% increase in applications while UAS was up 3.5% in applications over 2023.

UAF Chancellor Dan White was upbeat in a briefing to the university regents.

“What us propelling us are the things that attract students, like sports, the Alaska outdoors, updated facilities,” he said. There’s also reduced reliance on state funding,” because higher enrollment brings more revenue, White said. “Our applications are up 51%, enrollment continues to grow and retention (of staff and faculty) is improving, and research is growing. We think we're in the right place at the right time,” the chancellor said.

Despite that, UAF faces challenges along with other parts of the university, including in deferred maintenance of aging buildings. UAF has the oldest facilities in the UA system. “Moore and Bartlett (student dormitories) are almost 60 years old,” White said.

The Legislature has been unable to significantly fund a backlog of deferred maintenance that is now over a billion dollars, much of it on the UAF campus. At the request of Gov. Mike Dunleavy the university put together a plan to finance the deferred maintenance as an alternative to appropriations made annually by the Legislature, which are typically less that the annual addition to the backlog. The Legislature failed to act on the proposal, however.

On a more upbeat note, UA President Pat Pitney told the regents that UA’s three universities are working together well on collaborate programs, “to share knowledge, maximize access and leverage the strength and expertise that we have,” she said.

On another positive note, the Rasmuson Foundation, Alaska’s major philanthropic organization, has mounted a program to attract foundations and donors from the Lower 48 to support UA and providing its own support through the university’s Arctic Leadership Program. Rasmuson recently brought a group of funders from the Lower 48 to visit UA leaders and including visits to outlying campuses. Rasmuson itself has pledged $5 million spread over the next five years to support the university, Pitney said.