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In his most recent State of the University report, University of Alaska President Pat Pitney spoke proudly of the Dual Enrollment (or “Middle College”) program, citing the important role Middle College plays in the college training of Alaska’s future generation of workers.
It was my first experience learning how little funding the university actually provides for dual enrollment programs. While the university lists the post-secondary education program as one of its accomplishments, the bulk of the financial investment is made by Alaska’s public school districts.
The secondary education program is covered by Board Policy 10.05.015 and is an agreement between a local public school district and a University of Alaska campus. In Fairbanks, it is called North Star Middle College and is set up as a lottery-admission high school, enrolling up to 90 juniors and 90 seniors. Once enrolled, students attend the University of Alaska Fairbanks full-time and receive both high school and college credits. Some students are able to graduate from high school with an associate degree in addition to a diploma.
This sounded great to me, until I realized that the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District covers nearly 100% of the cost: tuition, books, student fees, everything except parking, is covered by the district. UAF doesn’t even offer a tuition discount.
All secondary education programs in Alaska appear to follow the same model, with the exception of Prince William Sound Community College (which offers dual enrollment directly funded by the Department of Education), and other University of Alaska campuses have secondary education programs paid for by the public school district.
According to UA in Review, just under 3,600 high school students across Alaska enrolled in UA’s dual enrollment programs in fiscal year 2023, earning a total of nearly 29,000 credits. That means the University of Alaska billed Alaska public school districts more than $8 million in tuition alone in fiscal year 2023, even though the state is in the midst of a public education funding crisis.
Aside from other criticisms of the Middle College program, such as the fact that high school teens spend all their time unsupervised on campus (special thanks to the 17-year-old North Star Middle College student who took my pass/fail yoga class at UAF last semester and fell asleep during every class), I take issue with the funding. Here in Fairbanks, my children’s elementary school was considered for closure, not because it was half empty, or because the building was dilapidated, or because of poor performance. No, it faced possible closure only as a cost-cutting measure in a desperate attempt to balance the school district’s budget. Closing it would save $1.4 million.
At the same time, North Star Middle College is included in the Fairbanks-North Star Borough School District’s budget at $2 million — that’s right — and the cost exceeds the savings of closing an entire elementary school with more than 400 students to allow 180 high school students to attend college for free for two years.
Public school districts are not meant to pay for college tuition. The fact that they are paying for tuition for a select few students hampers their ability to provide basic services to everyone else. The bottom line for me is that if universities truly value their post-secondary education programs and believe they are the effective college and workforce development tool they claim to be, they need to pay for them. Public school districts are struggling to keep their schools’ doors open. They don’t have the money to give graduates associate degrees in addition to their high school diplomas.
Sarah Lewis A native Alaskan living in Fairbanks, she is a parent, photographer, and archivist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Opinions expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a wide range of viewpoints. To submit an article for consideration, comments(at)adn.comPosts under 200 words Email: or Click here to submit from any web browserRead the complete guidelines for letters and commentaries here.
