Alaska colleges. (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Barrow: credit, home, transfer)

[Green Lantern400]

I'm a Long Islander who just graduated from high school, and while most of the kids in my school are going to college in my state, and the rest is a mixture-many are going to nearby states in the Northeast, or to the South, and a few in AZ and Cali and Florida, but I know literally nobody who is going to Alaska for college. I'm sure in most other school districts it would be the same.

Do Alaska's colleges have a lot of out-of state students, or is it a small percentage, like barely noticeable? What states and regions of the lower 48 do most students going to Alaskan colleges come from? This sounds like a silly question-but Alaska has always fascinated me.

[norman_w]

Everyone loves Alaska. Even Fairbanks. Lot of Egyptians in Fairbanks. Edward the vampire wanted to go to Univ of Alaska

[heathen]

^haha...

College is ridiculously expensive, and out of state tuition makes it even more so. If you're set on going, get a two year transfer degree from a local community college, and then finish up at a 4-year school in your state. Live free with your parents if possible and if you can stomach it. Obviously you're looking to get out and explore, so look into summer internships in Alaska which will give you credit at your school in New York.

So many young people make the mistake of seeing college as an excuse to get away from home and explore the world. That's not what it's for. There are many exponentially cheaper ways to achieve the same goals.

In answer to your question though, yes, there are quite a few students who come up from the lower 48 to go to school here. Not sure about the percentage, but you wouldn't feel alone.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Green Lantern400

I'm a Long Islander who just graduated from high school, and while most of the kids in my school are going to college in my state, and the rest is a mixture-many are going to nearby states in the Northeast, or to the South, and a few in AZ and Cali and Florida, but I know literally nobody who is going to Alaska for college. I'm sure in most other school districts it would be the same.

Do Alaska's colleges have a lot of out-of state students, or is it a small percentage, like barely noticeable? What states and regions of the lower 48 do most students going to Alaskan colleges come from? This sounds like a silly question-but Alaska has always fascinated me.

Yes, we have lots of foreign students in Alaska. Lots of engineers at UAF getting their masters and such. College is cheaper in Alaska than a lot of other States.

[Green Lantern400]

Originally Posted by heathen

^haha...

College is ridiculously expensive, and out of state tuition makes it even more so. If you're set on going, get a two year transfer degree from a local community college, and then finish up at a 4-year school in your state. Live free with your parents if possible and if you can stomach it. Obviously you're looking to get out and explore, so look into summer internships in Alaska which will give you credit at your school in New York.

So many young people make the mistake of seeing college as an excuse to get away from home and explore the world. That's not what it's for. There are many exponentially cheaper ways to achieve the same goals.

In answer to your question though, yes, there are quite a few students who come up from the lower 48 to go to school here. Not sure about the percentage, but you wouldn't feel alone.

What do you mean by that? Im considering possibly going away, because the feeling of living away from home a few years will be an adventure. I am not saying I want to go away to college as an excuse for that, I want to go to college regardless, but rather, if I'm going to college anyway, what's wrong with going away from home and exploring the world during those years of study?

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by heathen

^haha...

College is ridiculously expensive, and out of state tuition makes it even more so. If you're set on going, get a two year transfer degree from a local community college, and then finish up at a 4-year school in your state. Live free with your parents if possible and if you can stomach it. Obviously you're looking to get out and explore, so look into summer internships in Alaska which will give you credit at your school in New York.

So many young people make the mistake of seeing college as an excuse to get away from home and explore the world. That's not what it's for. There are many exponentially cheaper ways to achieve the same goals.

In answer to your question though, yes, there are quite a few students who come up from the lower 48 to go to school here. Not sure about the percentage, but you wouldn't feel alone.

Where the OP is from, most people go directly into four year colleges and universities after graduation, Community college is for "C" students, people who need remedial work or returning and adult students.

What seems expensive to me, would be the cost of travel between Alaska and Long Island.

It is traditional on Long Island to see college as an experience, rather than just a means to an end, and to choose a place based on your interests, major and comfort level. College is a goal in and of itself.

[Frostnip]

Originally Posted by Green Lantern400

What do you mean by that? Im considering possibly going away, because the feeling of living away from home a few years will be an adventure. I am not saying I want to go away to college as an excuse for that, I want to go to college regardless, but rather, if I'm going to college anyway, what's wrong with going away from home and exploring the world during those years of study?

Nothing, unless you're doing it at exorbitant costs on credit you'll be paying down for the next thirty years. If you have the scholarship money and parental financial support to do it out of pocket, go all out. If not, you need to get into the practicality of the costs of school and the return on investment based on the school you attend and the studies you choose. Paying out-of-state costs (not to mention that travel to and from Alaska is expensive and time-consuming) to go to a not comparatively prestigious university is perhaps not a sensible financial decision. UAF is a very strong school...for a handful of specific majors...if one intends to work in Alaska. And I don't want to demean UAA, because they do great work, but UAA is not a very competitive school on the national or international stage; for the majority of its programs it's basically a well-run commuter college for the local area. UAS is their neglected sibling, more used for continuing ed than for full-time study. Alaska doesn't have much in the way of non-public colleges - like, there's Alaska Pacific University, which is a nice school, but it'd be a bit weird to come all the way to AK for it unless one had a compelling personal reason, and Ilisagvik, which does good things up in Barrow, but moving to Barrow from the Lower 48 to go to community college is madness.

Alaska's universities' standard degree programs - things like education, social work, languages, etc. - are fantastic options for local students paying in-state tuition, particularly if they are eligible for the Alaska Performance Scholarship, particularly if they intend to work in Alaska, and even more so if they can live with family or friends all or part of the year. But they're not a financial bargain for out-of-staters, nor, generally speaking, are they outstanding enough compared to other universities to merit coming all the way up here for them and paying out-of-state rates for them.

Basically, I'm saying, if one of the universities here has a well-run specific program (mostly that's fields related to infrastructure in the arctic and sub-arctic, natural resources in the arctic and sub-arctic, and the ecology of the arctic and sub-arctic) that you are avidly interested in, by all means, come on up for it. If you want to make a career in specialized fields in the far north, studying in Alaska is a great way to get the specific education and connections you need. But if you just want to have an adventure in Alaska, you'd be better off just getting a seasonal job summers up here.

[Linda_d]

Originally Posted by Frostnip

Basically, I'm saying, if one of the universities here has a well-run specific program (mostly that's fields related to infrastructure in the arctic and sub-arctic, natural resources in the arctic and sub-arctic, and the ecology of the arctic and sub-arctic) that you are avidly interested in, by all means, come on up for it. If you want to make a career in specialized fields in the far north, studying in Alaska is a great way to get the specific education and connections you need. But if you just want to have an adventure in Alaska, you'd be better off just getting a seasonal job summers up here.

Totally agree with this. You don't need to go to the extra expense of travel and out-of-state tuition just to "experience" Alaska and study Business Administration or Computer Science or some other course of study you can get at most other colleges and universities in the US.

OP, decide on what you want to study, and then find colleges that fit that bill, not choose a college based on it being in a particular state. If you want to experience living on your own, the SUNY system has colleges/universities in Fredonia, Buffalo, Brockport, Potsdam, and Plattsburgh which are all 300+ miles from LI. You will be living on your own at any of them. If you want rural isolation, Alfred State is in the middle of nowhere. So is Canton. You'd be paying in-state tuition in all of them, so it makes no sense to spend lots of extra $$$ just "experience" Alaska while studying English lit.

[RayinAK]

If the OP is into sciences that relate to space (physics-related), environment, and engineering, UAF is the place to be at. If someone is into flying aircraft, or just maintaining them (mechanics), the UA is the place to be.

And I disagree about attending the UA just to attain a degree. It should also be an adventure. I work with a large crew of students (around 12), and nearly half of these are engineers working on their masters. Some are physicists, three or four are petroleum engineers, and so on. During the summer months they work part-time, and use the money to travel and enjoy Alaska. They drive to Valdez and Homer (also take boat tours while there), Anchorage, and take countless photos of wildlife. During the winter months they enjoy the outdoors (skiing, attend sled-dog races around town, take photos of the Northern Lights, etc.).

[Frostnip]

Basically all of that is something an out-of-stater could do at a fraction of the cost by coming as a tourist or seasonal worker when their in-state university classes are not in session. Unless a lower 48er is studying in one of the handful of fields the UA system does especially well, it's simply a smarter decision to get one's degree closer to home, then get a job in Alaska after graduation if that's still the dream. Deferring the dream a few years can mean being able to enjoy it a heck of a lot more due to lower debt and greater financial freedom.

UAF is nationally competitive in some subsets of the fields you mention, not others (e.g. petroleum engineering yes, computer engineering, no). Prospective students do need to do their research to find out whether they are likely secure a job in their field with a sufficient salary to make the cost of their degree program worthwhile. It's not a terribly romantic aspect of college, but it's just reality, unless their tuition and board is being paid by some other entity, like mom or the military.