Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Brian Rogers says they are looking to overseas to increase enrollment. Rogers told the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce this week that the Board of Regents has made attracting more foreign students a priority and an increasing number are coming from India and China.
Rogers said enrollment, and achievement metrics are already on the rise at UAF. He said the foreign students do well academically, so an increase in their numbers won’t hurt those numbers, but will likely boost them.
In his wide ranging address to the chamber, Rogers also highlighted successes and challenges at the university, from voter approval of the bond issue that will pay for a long-sought after new Life Sciences building, as well as rural school improvements and a sports arena at the University of Alaska-Anchorage to the loss of a major defense contract that has forced layoffs at the Supercomputing Center.
Rogers said UAF is in stable financial condition, but that tuition will continue to rise, and he called the coming year’s spending “maintenance level.”
Rogers said the governor’s proposed $37.5 million maintenance budget for UAF facilities will cover some deferred projects but that he’s pushing for an additional $100 million bond issue. He says the biggest looming project is replacement, or major renovation of, the 50-year-old university heat and power plant.
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