UAS enrollment coming close to last year's record

Enrollments so far this fall at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau are short of last year's record-high year, but approaching it, officials said.

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The fall semester began Tuesday, but students continue to register as particular courses start. Students can add or drop courses for two weeks.

The number of full-time students enrolled at the Auke Lake campus on Tuesday was 607, down from 641 on the first day last fall, said Paul Kraft, dean of students and enrollment management. The number of part-time students Tuesday was 1,256, about the same as the 1,267 part-timers last year.

The university defines full-time attendance as 12 credit hours, or about four courses, a semester.

UAS overall must increase the number of enrolled credit hours - a measure of courses - by 5 percent over last year to stay on its budget, UAS spokesman Kevin Myers said. So far, students at the UAS campuses in Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka are taking about 8 percent more credit hours, Kraft said.

The university's enrollment has grown since 1999 as it has made more of an effort to contact prospective students in Alaska and Outside.

But, Myers said, "We're hearing that the national trend, with the poor economy and post-Sept. 11, is people are staying closer to home. That's something that doesn't benefit us in Southeast. There's not a lot of room for growth in our limited area."

The university's small number of majors has made it hard to attract and keep students. Only about a fifth of first-time students still are enrolled four years later.

But officials hope five new programs, including three undergraduate majors, will draw students as the word gets out. The university regents approved those programs in February, after many high school seniors already had decided where to attend college this fall.

UAS Chancellor John Pugh said the college needs to target its marketing more toward students who want the majors UAS offers. The new English degree has brought in more students, and a program to train Natives to be teachers continues to be a bright spot, Pugh added.

Freshman Jeremy Brown, 18, of Juneau is attending UAS "because it was close to home and cheap. Cheaper, anyways."

Brown considered other colleges but couldn't afford them. He will major in information systems, one of the new degrees at UAS.

"That's one of the main reasons I came here, because I wanted to start that new program," he said.

Joshua Galbraith, 17, of Sitka also said Outside colleges were too expensive. But with his interests lying in international studies and political science, he may stay at UAS for two years and transfer to a university that offers those subjects as majors.

"If I could major in that here, I would definitely stay here because I like the college here. The price is right," he said.

Nicole Downey, 18, of Phoenix, Ariz., first saw Juneau five years ago on a cruise and liked it. When she was researching colleges that offered majors in her fields of interest - biology and environmental science - UAS kept popping up in computer databases. She also wanted to go to a small college.

"I didn't want a university where you're one of 200 students in front of the professor and there's no personal contact," Downey said.

So far, she said Wednesday, she's glad she selected UAS.

"It's just a real sense of community. I really love it," she said.