Degrees Offered at University of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Alaska Fairbanks appears in our ranking of the Top ten Online Colleges for Associates Degrees.
The ten academic divisions at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) offer a total of 146 degrees from the associate to the doctoral level as well as 31 certificates. All associate programs are offered through the Community and Technical College. Students can earn the 60-hour associate of arts or associate of applied science in a variety of fields including construction management, aviation, medical assistant studies, and radiologic technology. Programs in accounting, business, liberal arts, early childhood education, and information technology can be completed entirely online. Upon graduation, students can transfer directly to one of the other UAF colleges to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
Throughout the university, there are many regionally specific programs and concentrations that are not traditionally found at schools in the continental United States. For instance, through the College of Liberal Arts, students can pursue both a bachelor and master of arts in Arctic and Native Studies which are interdisciplinary degrees focusing on all aspects of northern life. The undergraduate core track consists of 8 classes covering Alaskan native languages, cultures, history, art, politics, and polar geography. The graduate program requires 30 credit hours with two required courses, Perspectives on the North and Research Methods and Sources in the North, followed by four classes in one of the following concentrations, Northern History, Environmental Politics and Policy, Arctic Policy, or Individualized Study. Graduates are prepared to pursue a Ph.D. or enter the workforce in a variety of fields including public administration, politics, tourism, or journalism
Programs in the College of Fisheries and Ocean Science use the Alaskan coastline and fishing industry as an extension of their classrooms as UAF partners with coastal facilities throughout the state. Students are encouraged to take part in research involving oceanography, fisheries, marine biology, climate change, and the human dimension of ocean studies. The college offers the Bachelor of Arts in Fisheries and the Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Ocean Science. Students in the B.A. program choose between the business, policy, and administration concentration or the rural and community development option, and B.S. tracks include fisheries science and ocean science. Both programs require an experiential learning project like an internship or laboratory assistant position.
Other environmental and earth science programs are offered through the Colleges of Engineering and Mines, Natural Science and Mathematics, and Natural Resources and Extension. All the colleges and schools at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have online courses available with six bachelor’s and eleven master’s programs offered entirely online including the Master of Security and Disaster Management (MSDM). This is part of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management department in the College of Management. The MSDM curriculum includes classes like Disaster Management Policy, Strategic Collaboration, and Vulnerability and Protection, and graduates are well prepared to work in the public or private sector, both in Alaska and worldwide.
About University of Alaska Fairbanks
Enrolling over 8000 students each semester, the University of Alaska Fairbanks is the largest research university in the state and consists of its main campus in Fairbanks as well as five much smaller locations in rural areas of Alaska. In addition, there are a variety of related research facilities like the Poker Flat Research Range launch facility, the International Arctic Research Center, and the Sikuliaq ship. This commitment to studying the natural world can be traced back to the school’s beginnings as a government-run agricultural research facility in 1906 which later transitioned into a college in 1917. As it expanded, the school received land, sea, and space-grant designations. In 2019, the University of Alaska Fairbanks has been ranked among the top public national universities in the United States by the U.S. News and World Report. Many of their environmental programs are also recognized among the best including the earth sciences graduate program ranked #52 nationally and the geosciences program ranked #86 in the world.
University of Alaska Fairbanks Accreditation Details
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) has provided accreditation to the University of Alaska Fairbanks since 1934 having passed its last evaluation in 2014. This process is a requirement for federal and state funding and verifies that the school meets a certain level of quality. The standards are broken into five categories which include institutional values, sustainability, self-improvement efforts, program planning, and educational and financial resources. In addition, other organizations review specific degrees and departments to ensure they meet industry training requirements. UAF has received program accreditation by the following groups.
- Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
- Council on Social Work Education
- National Association for Developmental Education
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
- Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
University of Alaska Fairbanks Application Requirements
To apply for undergraduate admission, students need to submit an online application and send transcripts and SAT or ACT scores. The only requirement for admission to an associate’s program is completion of a high school diploma. Bachelor’s degree applicants also need a GPA of at least 3.0 or a GPA above 2.5 with an 18 ACT or 955 SAT score. For admission to a graduate program, each prospective student must submit transcripts showing completion of an undergraduate degree with a 3.0 minimum GPA along with the application, resume, three letters of recommendation, and goal statement. Some programs have additional requirements including GRE scores or a relevant professional license.
Tuition and Financial Aid
For tuition purposes, students fall into one of three categories, in-state, out-of-state, and Western University Exchange (WUE) which means that students are residents of one of the fifteen western states that provide discounted tuition for regional students. Tuition also depends on course level with 100-200 courses being the least expensive, followed by the 300-400 and 600 levels. Estimated semester costs are approximately $4000 for in-state, $12,500 for out-of-state, and $5600 for WUE students. Graduate tuition is about $5000 for Alaskan residents and $10,000 for non-residents each semester. There are over 450 scholarships and grants available including the Alaska Performance Scholarship based on high school performance as well as departmental awards for graduate students. Prospective students are encouraged to contact University of Alaska Fairbanks advisers for more information.
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