WICHE & Alaska Celebrate 50 Years

Boulder, Colorado — The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) is celebrating 50 years as a force shaping higher education in the West. WICHE, along with Alaska and 14 other member states, works collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for the West’s citizens. WICHE, the University of Alaska, and the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education will hold a reception to honor WICHE’s 50th anniversary and Alaska’s participation in the commission on Wednesday, February 18, at 5:30 at Juneau’s Goldbelt Hotel.

Alaska has been an integral part of WICHE since its creation in 1952. Originally founded to broaden access to medical, dental, and veterinary schools for students in states that didn’t support such programs, WICHE currently enrolls more than 19,000 students in 13 professional degree programs, 134 graduate programs, and scores of undergraduate disciplines. WICHE is the only organization in the West that focuses exclusively on higher education issues, from accountability to tuition and fees to distance learning and innovation. Its primary issue – access – has been one of the region’s most pressing educational and social issues, from the days of the GI Bill down to the present. Today, when our economy demands a highly educated workforce, WICHE actively supports the idea that every student should be prepared for college, and everyone should have access to a college education.

Alaska's students and their families are the primary beneficiaries of WICHE’s three Student Exchange programs: the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP), Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), and Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). They saved some $9.5 million in tuition and fees this year through WUE, which enables Alaska’s students to enroll in institutions in other states and pay 150 percent of resident tuition. Nearly 1,700 of Alaska’s undergraduate students, as well as a number of graduate students, are currently enrolled in out-of-state programs via WICHE. Through PSEP, 13 of Alaska’s professional students are studying out of state in 2003-04 in three fields: dentistry, physical therapy, and pharmacy. The majority of these students return to the state to practice.

Alaska has been an active participant in WICHE projects to support better-informed decision making at the state level. Teams of policymakers and educational leaders from Alaska participate each year in WICHE’s regional policy forums and meetings, which are designed to assist in the creation of good public policy in the West.

More about WICHE

WICHE’s 15 member states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming – work collaboratively to promote innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions, strengthening higher education's contributions to the region's social, economic, and civic life. In addition to its Student Exchange, WICHE’s programs include WCET (Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications), an international leader in helping states and institutions use new technologies to improve education; Policy Analysis and Research; Mental Health; and the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC), a rapidly expanding trilateral initiative. Another initiative,
the Northwest Academic Forum, addresses regional higher education issues and engages in cooperative resource sharing; a current effort, dubbed NEON (Northwest Educational Outreach Network), will broaden student access to higher education through an innovative interstate collaboration that taps the “anywhere, anytime” benefits of distance education.

Each state has three gubernatorially appointed commissioners, who help guide the work of the commission. Diane M. Barrans, executive director of the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, is WICHE’s vice chair for 2004. Also serving Alaska on the commission are Sen. Johnny Ellis (Anchorage), and Marshall Lind, chancellor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In addition, WICHE's Legislative Advisory Committee works to strengthen state policymaking in higher education, engaging legislators in the discussion of higher ed issues and seeking their input on strategies for interstate collaboration. Sen. Ellis, Sen. Gene Therriault (North Pole), and Sen. Gary Stevens (Kodiak), represent Alaska on this committee.

2/13/2004

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