University of Alaska System
The
University of Alaska is a
land-grant,
sea-grant, and
space-grant university founded in
1917 in
Fairbanks,
Alaska.
(While Alaska is the largest state in terms of area, the UA system is the second smallest land-grant university system in the country, leading only
Rhode Island.)
The UA System consists of three main
universities, each with several satellite campuses in smaller communities. They are:
University of Alaska Fairbanks, the main campus;
University of Alaska Anchorage, the largest campus; and
University of Alaska Southeast (whose main campus is in the state capital of
Juneau). Nearly 40,000 students attend classes between the three campuses.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) is home to the world-famous Geophysical Institute, which operates both the
Poker Flat Research Range (the only collegiate rocket range in the country) and the
Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, home to the only Cray supercomputer in the Arctic region.
The University of Alaska schools are relatively small, but do have several world-class departments. At UAF, these are most notably the
geology department and those
natural sciences which take advantage of UA's unique location, including
atmospheric sciences and
wildlife biology.
The University of Alaska campuses compete on a national level in several sports, both in the NAIA and NCAA. The University of Alaska Fairbanks has won several NCAA championships in competition shooting, while the University of Alaska Anchorage hosts the famous
Great Alaska Shootout each fall in men's basketball. UAF's men's hockey team also plays at the Carlson Center, one of the very few Olympic-sized hockey rinks in North America.
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University of Alaska system website
