University of Alaska Fairbanks

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From the College

Founded in 1917, the University provides education, research, and service in the “last frontier.” The Fairbanks campus, one of three in the statewide system of higher education, is the primary administrative and research center, with branches in Bethel, Dillingham, Kotzebue, and Nome, along with rural centers throughout the state.

The total University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) enrollment is close to 10,000 students. Eighty-five percent of the students have Alaskan residency, although nearly half of the students graduated from high schools in forty-nine states and thirty-eight other countries. The nine residence halls on campus are renovated and are capable of lodging 1,322 students. The Student Apartment Complex has sixty furnished two-bedroom units reserved for sophomore and upperclass students. The Eileen Panigeo MacLean House, housing for rural students, holds 22 students. The University also manages 153 furnished apartments for students with families.

The large campus contains a core of academic buildings and residences, as well as miles of trails, two lakes, and a boreal forest research and recreational area. Most of the University’s research institutes, including the noted Geophysical Institute and the International Arctic Research Center, are clustered on the West Ridge–with incredible views of the Tanana Valley and Alaska Mountain range. The University’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station is on campus, as are a Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and various state and federal agencies and laboratories. The University awards graduate degrees in many of the same areas as the undergraduate studies, often in conjunction with one of its research institutes. The University has added or expanded several new buildings in the last five years, increasing research capabilities related to the biological sciences, cold-climate housing, and circumpolar studies. The North is a theme found in many other academic programs, including Alaska Native Studies, anthropology, the arts, engineering, and the social sciences.

Intercollegiate athletics include men’s and women’s basketball, cross-country running and skiing, intercollegiate ice hockey (CCHA), and women’s volleyball and swim teams. The University also has an outstanding rifle team which produced several Olympic athletes (Dan Jordan is the current head coach), has earned ten national championships and three NCAA titles. The Student Recreation Complex houses a variety of sports and physical activities facilities, including multipurpose areas for basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis, calisthenics, dance, gymnastics, judo, and karate; a rifle and pistol range; courts for handball, racquetball, and squash; an elevated 200-meter, three-lane jogging track; a swimming pool; weight-training and modern fitness equipment areas; an ice arena for recreational skating and hockey; a special aerobics area; and a three-story climbing wall.

The cheery and roomy student union, the William Ransom Wood Center, is the focus of various out-of-class activities for students and faculty members. The center houses meeting and exhibit rooms, lounges and television areas, the student government offices, campus information, a pub, bowling alley, games room, cafeteria, snack bar, and an espresso bar.

The campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks is situated on a ridge overlooking the valley of the Tanana River and the city of Fairbanks. Serving a population of more than 85,000 within the 7,561-square-mile North Star Borough, Fairbanks is a major trade center for outlying villages in Interior Alaska. The city is connected with the rest of the state and the lower forty-eight states by air and highway. Municipal bus service is available between downtown Fairbanks, the surrounding area, and the campus. Shuttle bus service is available around the UAF campus.

Fairbanks offers the sophistication of larger cities through such luxuries as first-run movies and fine restaurants while maintaining the atmosphere of smaller, more personal towns. Denali National Park and other vast wilderness areas are close at hand, and Anchorage is 350 miles south via the Parks Highway. Members of the Fairbanks community and the University join together in the Fairbanks Symphony, Arctic Chamber Orchestra, and in many other musical and theatrical enterprises.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks awards occupational endorsements, certificates, A.A. and A.A.S. degrees, and B.A., B.S., B.B.A., B.Ed., B. E. M., B.M., and B.F.A. degrees in accounting, airframe studies, Alaska Native studies, anthropology, applied accounting, applied business, applied physics, apprenticeship technology, art, arts and sciences, aviation maintenance technology, automotive technology, aviation technology, biochemistry, biological sciences, bookkeeping, business administration, chemistry, child development, civil engineering, communication, community health, computer science, culinary arts, diesel/heavy equipment, dental assistant studies, drafting technology, early childhood, earth science, economics, electrical engineering, elementary education, emergency medical services, emergency services, English, Eskimo (Inupiaq and Yup’ik), financial services representative, fisheries, foreign languages, general science, geography, geological engineering, geology, health-care reimbursement, health technology, high-latitude range management, history, human services, Japanese studies, journalism, justice, linguistics, maintenance technology, mathematics, mechanical engineering, medical assistant, microcomputer support specialist, mining engineering, molecular biology, music, Native language education, natural resources management (including forestry), northern studies, nurse aide, office management and technology, paralegal studies, petroleum engineering, philosophy, phlebotomy, physics, political science, powerplant, power generation, process technology, psychology, renewable resources, rural development, rural human services, rural utilities business management, Russian studies, social work, sociology, statistics, technology, theater, tribal management, veterinary science, and wildlife biology. Preprofessional advising is available in dentistry, law, library science, medicine, physical therapy, and veterinary medicine.

The academic year is divided into two semesters; registration begins in early April for the fall semester and in November for the spring semester. Preregistration is available for returning students. In addition, there are three-week, six-week, and twelve-week summer sessions. UAF offers an early orientation for new students in the fall and spring semesters. The University is organized into four colleges and four professional schools: the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, the College of Engineering and Mines, the College of Rural Alaska, and the Schools of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Education, Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, and Management. A minimum of 120 credits must be completed for the four-year baccalaureate degree programs.

Students who receive scores of 3 or higher on the College Board’s Advanced Placement tests may be awarded credit by the University. Currently enrolled students may challenge courses for credit by successfully completing College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) examinations or by completing locally prepared examinations. Requests for advanced-placement credit and credit by examination are coordinated through the Office of Admissions.

The honors program is designed for highly motivated undergraduate students who wish to acquire a superior understanding of the natural and social sciences, the arts, and the humanities. Prospective honors students need a minimum ACT composite score of 29 or a minimum combined SAT score of 1920, with a minimum 3.6 high school GPA.

The University maintains exchange programs with various universities in Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and multiple other universities through the North 2 North Exchange program. The University also participates in the Northwest Council on Study Abroad (NCSA), in cooperation with the American Heritage Association International (AHA), providing students with an opportunity to enroll in liberal arts programs in Argentina, Austria, England, France, Fiji, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, and Spain. UAF is also a member of the National Student Exchange, participating with more than 180 colleges and universities throughout the United States, in U.S. territories, and at nine locations in Canada.

The Fine Arts Complex features a 480-seat theater, a 1,072-seat concert hall, FM public radio (KUAC) and educational-television (PBS) studios, an art gallery, and the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library. The library collection contains more than 1.1 million volumes, including the prestigious Alaska and Polar Regions Collection. Electronic catalogs provide access to collections in 11,000 libraries nationwide.

Students have free use of the University’s academic computing facilities (Aurora), which are accessible from Windows and Macintosh computer labs and via remote access. Various schools and colleges have their own special-purpose computer labs.

The University Museum attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year to Interior Alaska and is located on the UAF campus. The museum collects, preserves, and exhibits materials from Alaska and the North.

In 2008–09, tuition and fees were $2459 per semester for full-time (15 credits) students. Nonresident students paid an additional $4710 for 15 credits of tuition each semester. Residents of Alaska, and cities having sister city agreements with any Alaskan city, are eligible for resident tuition rates. Generally, to qualify as a resident, a student must have been living in Alaska for two years. The approximate cost per semester for books and supplies is $1300. A double-occupancy residence hall room on campus costs $1720 per semester. Meals, which all residence hall occupants are required to purchase, cost approximately $1595–$1875 per semester. These costs are subject to change. Married student housing on campus is also available.

A large portion of financial aid is derived from the Alaska Supplemental Education Loan Program, which is available to all students attending UAF, regardless of residency. Three kinds of aid are available: grants and scholarships (which need not be repaid), loans, and part-time employment. Inquiries should be addressed to the Financial Aid Office, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 756560, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-6560 or by e-mail to financialaid@uaf.edu.

The Chancellor’s Scholarship, a one-year tuition waiver awarded by the Office of Admissions, is available to entering freshmen with a minimum 3.0 GPA and 1650 SAT combined score or 25 ACT composite score. To apply, students should submit a scholarship application, an application for admission, a high school transcript, and test scores for review. Questions about this scholarship should be directed to the Office of Admissions. The deadline for University of Alaska and UAF-funded scholarships is February 15. Check the Financial Aid Web site for other aid and applicable due dates at http://www.uaf.edu/finaid/.

Fifty-two percent of full-time faculty members and thirty-two percent of part-time faculty members hold doctoral, professional, or terminal degrees, and many are actively engaged in research. In keeping with University policy, faculty members provide academic counseling for students. The combination of a student-faculty ratio of 10:1 and easy access to instructors for help outside of class produces a maximum educational benefit for students.

The Associated Students of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (ASUAF) protects students’ rights through its various governmental functions and also offers educational, social, recreational, and service activities. The school newspaper, Sun Star, is published weekly with the sponsorship of ASUAF, which also supports KSUA, the campus radio station; the international cinema and weekly movie series; and dances, concerts, and other entertainment. ASUAF publishes the results of its faculty evaluations and sends several student lobbyists to the Alaska state legislature in Juneau each spring. There is a student member seat on the Board of Regents of the University.

For admission to a baccalaureate program, applicants must be high school graduates with a GPA of at least 2.5 in a high school core curriculum of 16 credits and a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0, or 2.5 plus an ACT score of 18 or SAT score of 1290. Transfer students must also have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 in all previous college work. Applicants for a major in a scientific or technical field may be required to present a higher grade point average and to have completed specific background courses before being accepted into the major department. All entering freshmen are required to submit scores from the ACT or SAT examination prior to registration for placement in English and math courses.

The application deadlines are July 1 for the fall semester and November 1 for the spring semester. Applications are processed after the deadlines only as long as space is available. Applicants are notified of the admission decision as soon as all application material has been received. Only accepted students are allowed to apply for campus housing. Students who desire campus housing should apply for admission as early as possible.

For further information, applicants should contact: