Outer Coast College
TypePrivate
Established2015
Location
Sitka
,
Alaska
,
United States

57°03′05″N 135°19′18″W / 57.05135°N 135.32159°W / 57.05135; -135.32159
CampusSuburban
Websiteoutercoast.org

Outer Coast College is a small, private, liberal arts college in development in Sitka, Alaska. It is currently in the accreditation process with the plan to open a two-year undergraduate program in the fall of 2024.[1]

Outer Coast will admit a freshman class of about 20 students in 2024 and a similar number the following year, for a total student body of 40.[2]

History

After Sheldon Jackson College closed in 2007, the title to the campus was transferred to the Sitka Fine Arts Camp in February 2011.[3] In the summer of 2014, Alaska state representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins began deliberating with alumni, teachers and students of Deep Springs College about the possibility of founding a new college on the historic campus in partnership with the Fine Arts Camp.[4] Full-time work to create Outer Coast began in September 2015.[5]

In October 2017, the Outer Coast team committed to launching the Outer Coast Summer Seminar in the summer of 2018.[5] The inaugural seminar was held from July to August, drawing in rising high school juniors and seniors from Alaska and the continental United States to participate in rigorous college-level courses as well as numerous service projects.[6]

Since 2020, Outer Coast has run three iterations of the Outer Coast Year, a nine-month intensive for high school graduates from across Alaska, the Lower 48, and the globe. In addition, it has offered six intensive, college-level academic summer programs — or Summer Seminars — for high school students.

Admissions at Outer Coast are need blind and run on a sliding-scale, means-based cost of attendance model. [7]

Philosophy

Outer Coast is modeled on Deep Springs' "three pillars" of academics, labor and self-governance. In academics, students enroll in a rotating series of seminars across disciplines as well as a core Indigenous Studies course, which features Tlingit language learning.[8] In self governance, students are actively involved in the governance and operations of the institution through Student Body ("SB") meetings and smaller committees vested with particular responsibilities and decision-making authority. At Outer Coast, the labor pillar is reinterpreted as the service pillar. Students develop service projects with community organizations in Sitka.[4] Outer Coast places a strong emphasis on the incorporation of Tlingit and other Native Alaskan perspectives in both the selection of its student body and curriculum.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "F.A.Q." Outer Coast. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  2. ↑ "Outer Coast to admit first freshman class in '24". Outer Coast. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  3. ↑ "Arts program to take over Sheldon Jackson College". Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  4. 1 2 "Outer Coast College seeks to replicate Deep Springs success". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  5. 1 2 "About". Outer Coast. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  6. ↑ "Rethinking the college experience in Sitka". Juneau Empire. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  7. ↑ "Cost & Affordability". Outer Coast. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  8. ↑ "How 'Out There' is Progressive Education?". Harvard Political Review. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  9. ↑ "Decolonizing the Outer Coast Classroom". Sitka Sentinel. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
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