Higher education draws Alaskans; enrollment growing or stable at most institutions.

• Author: O'Connell, Dianne
• Position: EDUCATION

Colleges and universities across the state show a mixed record in drawing students, and some have shifted and sharpened their focus to ensure educational success.

"We had the highest summer enrollment figures ever in our 26 years in Alaska," comments Eric Ash, Ph.D., dean and executive director of Wayland Baptist University, Anchorage Campus. "We served 430 students this past summer, compared to 366 during the summer of 2010. That includes a 25 percent increase in new students and a 14 percent increase in overall enrollment. We've held our own in a difficult economy. Some private institutions have not fared as well."

Wayland's average enrollment is 550 students per term, with about 150 persons graduating each year. Most finish the program, Ash says, but because most are non-traditional students with full-time careers or parenting responsibilities, they may take classes one term and sit out a term before returning. Most classes are in the evenings, often in four-hour blocks, for 11 consecutive weeks.

"We've tried to make our program meet student needs while continuing to establish our academic reputation through word of mouth," he explains. "Classes usually have 15 to 17 students. Your instructor is going to know your name and something about you."

Wayland's "bread and butter" undergraduate degree is the Bachelor of Applied Science, which provides students with an opportunity to receive academic credit for supervised professional work. A private, not-for-profit institution, Wayland offers a variety of undergraduate degrees including the popular Master of Arts in Management degree.

The school is also known for its close working relationship with the Community College of the Air Force, of which Ash was president of before coming to Wayland; and it is fully accredited through the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Wayland offers programs on campuses throughout Alaska: the Parkview campus in Anchorage; the Wasilla Center; Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER), Anchorage; and now Eielson AFB and Fort Wainwright, in Fairbanks. Wayland was among the first universities to initiate distance education and extension campuses. The home campus at Plainview, Texas, has a 100-year history now with 14 campuses in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alaska, Hawaii, and Kenya, Africa.

"We're not a seminary, and we're not a Bible college," Ash explains. "We are a faith-based institution of higher learning in a Christian learning environment. We do require courses in the history of the Old and New Testaments, but our student body is diverse with...