Outer Coast College

Outer Coast is a small, private, liberal arts postsecondary education institution in development in Sitka, Alaska. It opened a two-year undergraduate program in fall 2024, and is currently completing the accreditation process.^[1]

Outer Coast

Type	Private
Established	2015
Location	Sitka , Alaska , United States 57.05135°N 135.32159°W / 57.05135; -135.32159
Campus	Rural
Website	outercoast.org

Outer Coast admitted a freshman class of 20 students in 2024 and a similar number the following year, for a total student body of approximately 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. The Outer Coast Year program transitioned to the full two-year undergraduate program in 2024. In addition, the institution 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 core Indigenous Studies courses, the first of 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]