Kodiak College’s fall semester started on Aug. 24 with enrollment up roughly 27% from last year, according to the college's Interim Director Jackie Cason.
According to data that Cason provided to KMXT, there are 788 students enrolled in Kodiak College this year, compared to 617 last year. Students enrolled in associates degrees in applied sciences, which includes business, accounting, and early childhood development, jumped up 30% from last year. And enrollees in associates degrees in arts went up by 16%.
Cason said that, other than the bump in associate’s degree enrollees, part of the reason for this year’s enrollment boost might be because of the college’s certificate programs. Students can get certificates in fields like welding, marine services technology, and medical assisting, which give them the skills to get entry level jobs in those fields.
Cason said students can complete occupational certificates in a year or less, making them easier to finish than two-year associate’s degrees and four-year bachelor’s degrees.
“What a community campus offers is those shorter term completion opportunities that also then give them a leg up if they want to go for the bachelor's degree or a graduate degree down the line," Cason said. "It's not all or nothing. It's a step at a time.”
She also credited the student support systems available at the college, like financial aid counseling or tutoring. But another reason, Cason said, might be because of the community they’ve fostered. She said events Kodiak College puts on, like an upcoming speaker series, connect people to the college who might not have otherwise considered it.
“We think of ourselves as very embedded in the community," Cason said. "So even if people aren't enrolled in a single course that we offer, they don’t add to our enrollment at all, we want to be a space where people gather and convene.”
Cason said the college is hoping to expand into other areas as well, including working more with local Coast Guard families.
This will be her last semester as interim director before the incoming director Sam Hirt takes over at the beginning of next year. Cason said she hopes to make the transition as smooth as possible so that Kodiak College’s momentum carries on into 2027.
