As of 2000, 88.3% of the population 25 years or older had completed high school. Some 24.7% had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher.
Enrollment in public schools was 134,391 in the fall of 1999. Of these, 95,601 attended schools from kindergarten through grade eight, and 38,790 attended high school. Minority students made up approximately 40% of the total enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools in 2001. Total enrollment was estimated at 135,869 in fall 2000 and expected to reach 137,000 by fall 2005. Private school enrollment was 6,172 in fall 2001. Expenditures for public education in 2000/01 were estimated at $1,226,966.
The University of Alaska is the state's leading highereducational institution. The main campus, established in 1917, is at Fairbanks; satellite campuses are located in Anchorage and Juneau. Private institutions include Sheldon Jackson College, Alaska Bible College (a theological seminary), and Alaska Pacific University. The University of Alaska's Rural Education Division has a network of education centers and offers 90 correspondence courses in 22 fields of study. As of fall 2000, there were 32,303 students enrolled in college or graduate school. In the same year Alaska had nine degree-granting institutions. In 1997, minority students comprised 21.7% of total postsecondary enrollment.