University of Alaska Anchorage

This review applies to the pilot program. Overall the program is a decent choice for VA or scholarship students. If you're paying your own way, it's probably not worth it.

PROS:
- The maintenance department is awesome: UAA's C-172s are the best maintained training airplanes in AK
- Most of the flight instructors are good
- For VA students, the GI Bill will cover the whole program
- Horizon air has a partnership with UAA for students who want to go to the airlines
- The school has a friendlier, more laid-back... Read More atmosphere than most university flight schools, although this has been trending in the wrong direction.

CONS:
- Academics: outdated, repetitive, mostly a waste of time. A couple good professors like Marty Case actually put effort into teaching and improving courses.
- Part 141 Training Course Outlines (TCOs): outdated and inefficient. After completing a 4-5 month ground school, students are unprepared for flight training and checkride orals. A significant % fail their first FAA written. Flight instructors have to spend a lot of extra time doing ground lessons to fill-in gaps from ground school. Most of the flight TCOs are decent, except for the private pilot TCO. It's unheard of for students to complete this TCO at the minimum hours (most go 10+ over), forcing GI Bill/scholarship students to pay thousands extra to get their license.
- Funding: UAA doesn't fund the flight school properly. The school usually doesn't have working multi-engine planes. Currently they own 2 twin Comanches from the 1960s/70s that are generally broken. The school has been working on a band-aid solution (leasing a Seminole), but should have bought new ME planes decades ago. Students often have to wait a long time to start ME training, and the training often gets spread out over several months (ME ratings at many schools only take 2-3 weeks).
- Planes: for the most part you'll only be flying C-172s. No complex planes (other than ME planes), no tailwheels, no aerobatic planes, etc. This makes it harder to further your skills and experience as a legitimate commercial pilot.
- Risk-aversion: the school has very conservative weather minimums and a very risk-averse culture. This is mostly a good thing for flight schools, but UAA takes it too far, often resulting in cancelled flights during safe weather (while other flight schools are flying), extending your training time. Gravel operations are only allowed in 1 of their 8 C-172s, and the airports you're allowed to go to are very limited.
- Scheduling: you'll usually be scheduled 3 times a week; in AK this means you'll be lucky if you fly once a week. Sometimes there is a long waitlist to start courses, but this has been improving. You can sometimes fly outside of your normal flight time, but the leadership will often be pointlessly ornery about this.
- Weather: you'll most likely have more weather cancellations than in the lower 48.
- Leadership: reactionary rather than visionary; no apparent long-term plan. The chief pilot who runs the program doesn't meet all of the experience requirements for a Part 141 flight school, so there's another chief pilot who's never there. The chief pilot who is actually there lacks real-world flight experience outside of instruction. There are vast differences in the quality and expectations of different stage check instructors. There is no coherent or effective training standardization program. The leadership beyond the flight program at the university doesn't understand how flight training works and doesn't give the program the resources it needs.
- Flight instructors: the pay rate is higher than in the lower 48, but with how the schedule works, weather/student cancellations, and the higher COL in AK you will still barely make a livable wage. You will have completely inadequate time between flights to properly brief/debrief your students. Your advancement as a flight instructor will be based more on favoritism than merit.

The UAA flight school has the potential to be the best university flight program in the US, but is currently very far from achieving that goal.

My experience obtaining a degree in Psychology from the University of Alaska at Anchorage (UAA) cannot be separated from my personal outlook, or anyone elses. I found UAA to be a fun, professional, and rewarding university, and I am glad I attended. It did not come without its own pressures and struggles, but amidst all of that, I am keenly aware that I was surrounded by professionals, many who took an interest in helping me achieve my goals, such as professors and other students. The University... Read More was regionally accredited until about 2006, which is about when it became nationally accredited. Since then it has blossomed into an incredibly affluent school. Their campus has an overall modern look, with a library, and many other amenities. They are second to none. Despite the cold temperatures, your grades are likely the last to slip due to your icy surroundings, as you will find yourself in an ever-present professional environment consisting of professors, tutors, and students, ready to help you reach your goals. You can trust in UAA. Architectural design around campus alone is stunning, such as the Alaska Airlines Arena, now the second to largest arena in the entire state. Since graduation in 2012, many new features, buildings, and programs have been added that would make applying a no-brainer. UAA also boasts an incredible international community of students. I have experienced professors who did not seem attentive, but UAA by and large is a great university that will help you reach your education and career goals. The only person holding you back from applying, is you.

The University of Alaska is great option for students who are in state and need affordable education. During my time at UAA there was quite a bit of change in the staffing. In the education department several of the professors were unprofessional and did not stay on topic throughout the classes. There were countless times where I would show up to class and then nothing would get done. As someone who wanted to learn and further my education, I was hoping for more structure and information from the... Read More classes. However, the program was nice about offering online courses which was very helpful for my work schedule.

UAA is a medium sized, community oriented university with high-class professors focused on student success and engagement. I studied with nearly every English Dept. literature professor at the university during my time there, and would not trade my experience for any chance to go to a prestigious university. The professors are experts in their fields with doctorates from world-class institutions who choose to live in Alaska and teach at UAA out of love for the city and the university. Classes are... Read More wonderfully structured, the sizes are small (between 15-20 students in most English courses), and a focus on Alaska Native Studies just came through as a requirement, the first in the nation of the sort.

After receiving my Bachelors of Science in Environment and Society at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), I decided to pursue my Masters degree at the same university. I wanted to continue my research in Alaska and the interdisciplinary graduate program at UAA made it an easy decision to continue my education at this school. I am currently a second semester interdisciplinary graduate student within the Department of Biological Sciences, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, and... Read More Department of Geomatics. My degree is focused in geographic information system (GIS) modeling for ecological applications. Even though I didnt fit into a single department, UAA worked with me to create a Masters program that would fulfill my career and education goals.

I am a graduate student in the Anthropology department at the University of Alaska Anchorage pursuing a Master's degree in Anthropology focusing on Bioarchaeology. My thesis centers around assisting Native Alaskan Villages with the repatriation process of their ancestor's remains that are still curated in national and nationally funded museums. My department is extremely active in supporting Native Alaskan interests, which mirrors my own personal desire for advocacy and educational opportunities... Read More for the Village members. UAA was the perfect fit for me, and I am so very proud of the work that we are accomplishing together.

I loved UAA! I came to UAA after five semesters at another school. I was not expecting to enjoy UAA, but to my surprise, I absolutely adored it. If I had known how much I'd like it, I would have gone there in the first place. I felt that the lower division classes weren't difficult, but that I was able to make them as challenging as I wanted to. For instance, I had to take English 121. I'd already taken upper division English classes and was expecting to be bored, but my professor was wonderful,... Read More and because I was trying to get as much out of the class as I could, I ended up feeling challenged and engaged with the course and course material. I felt that my upper division courses were very rigorous. I appreciated the quality and dedication of my professors. I majored in Spanish and minored in Theatre, and I loved all of my Spanish and theatre professors. I learned so much from them, and their mentorship has meant the world to me. I also have had many professional opportunities because of my professors. I would recommend UAA to anybody. I am so grateful for my time there.

The University of Alaska, Anchorage is a university that serves a wide range of students, ranging from your traditional college student, to college athletes, former professionals, and military veterans. This reflects within the classroom, as many of the business courses that you take during your time at UAA have a wide mix of individuals with different backgrounds and life's experiences allow for the creation of rich discussion in the classroom. The Logistics program at UAA is wonderful. The program... Read More head, Dr. Prokop, is a wonderful professor, who does an excellent job and encouraging students to think analytically and examine the deeper problems which may be present in the real world. The class size was small, often consisting of approximately 15 or students in the required logistics courses. This allowed for the building of relationships with both your classmates and the professor. A downside to the Logistics program, which was only realized in hindsight after my completion of the program, is the material covered is really just a skimming of the possible material. If you find that you truly enjoy Logistics and Supply Chain Management, you will likely want to pursue a graduate degree in the subject, as here you will gain the knowledge which you likely desire.

University of Alaska Anchorage was a wonderful place to obtain my undergraduate degree. The Health Sciences department had staff that pushed us outside of our comfort zones, forcing us to approach the issues of domestic violence, homelessness, mental health, healthcare inequality, and other issues surrounding us on a daily basis. Anchorage is a large community, but like every city in Alaska is somewhat isolated. The department did their best to allow us networking opportunities with professionals... Read More in our field. The academic advisers are top notch! The Health Sciences program at UAA has 100% made me a more critical thinker and given me a passion for seeking to provide quality care to all in my community. I believe without a doubt it has made me better prepared for my graduate studies.

This programs contribution and encouragement to make a connection between the community and the students is inspiring. I admire that the students are encouraged to work in the field while taking online courses. All of the classes are online so I am able to work while taking classes, which is ideal to avoid student loans. Within the online classes we have discussion boards we are required to post to to keep up communication within the class and share experiences and perspective on different issues.... Read More Alaska is such a large state with many diverse communities and this program helps bring everyone together to help work towards better public health programs.