Online Schools: Alaska

In 1959 Alaska became the 49th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, nearly 100 years after Secretary of State William H. Seward purchased the vast territory from the Russians for $7.2 million. Though the American population initially believed the property was worth little, more than 30,000 mainlanders flocked to Alaska as part of the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 19th century. As settlers arrived and the new population interacted with Native peoples, a colorful dynamic was forged. Today, Alaska is the largest U.S. state in area, and it contains the nation’s highest statewide percentage of indigenous peoples (16.4 percent).

The state’s expansive geography and predominantly remote population has led to a major push for online schools in Alaska in recent years. In 2007, the Quality Education in the Last Frontier (QELF) Grant reported that significant progress had been made in the advancement of distance learning opportunities for Alaskans, particularly for disabled students. The report also noted the implementation of several E-learning modules created for teachers, which included Introduction to Special Education, Adapting Teaching Techniques to Meet Individual Needs, Supporting Positive Student Behavior, and Acting as an Advocate for Students with Special Needs.

Alaska’s online schools offer virtual education programs to schoolchildren of all ages. The two accredited public school programs—Alaska Virtual Academy and Fairbanks BEST—are available for children K-8; the latter is only offered within the Fairbanks North Star Borough School district, while the former is available statewide. In addition, three private online academies—K¹² International Academy (K-12), The Keystone School (6-12) and George Washington University Online High School (9-12) are also available options, since each one operates worldwide.

Though Alaska has relatively few colleges, several online schools are available within its university network. The state’s largest institution—the University of Alaska—has heavily incorporated online education into its curricula. University of Alaska in Anchorage, the school system’s most populous campus, offers distance-learning programs for students anywhere in the United States. The UAA e-learning course list is quite extensive, especially for subjects like computer science, education and mathematics. The UA system’s first established institution, University of Alaska Fairbanks, also offers online classes in a variety of subjects, including business administration, accounting and psychology. The third campus, University of Alaska Southeast (Juneau), leads the state with its number of distance learners. These students can choose from five fields of study, including fisheries management and health care.

Many smaller Alaskan schools have also adopted online programs for statewide students. Alaska Pacific University’s Rural Alaska Native Adult (RANA) program is aimed at promoting educational success among the Alaskan Native population, and offers online courses in subjects like accounting, environmental science and outdoor studies. Though RANA students are required to visit the APU campus for a few days at the outset of the academic quarter, they are able to complete the remainder of the course from their home communities. Illisagvik College offers a similar distance learning program to non-high school graduates living in Alaska’s North Slope region, while Wayland Baptist University—with campuses in Anchorage and Fairbanks—reaches out to Alaskan Christians by offering online programs like Bachelor and Master of Christian ministry, as well as several secular fields of study.

For students who wish to enroll themselves or their children in online schools, Alaska presents a number of legitimate opportunities to earn an education from home—a major perk for many people in the nation’s largest state.

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