| Outer Coast College | |
| Established: | 2015 |
| Type: | Private |
| Country: | United States |
| Coordinates: | 57.0514°N -135.3216°W |
| Campus: | Suburban |
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]
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]
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]