University of Alaska asks Legislature for $10 million to boost recruitment, retention and athletics

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — University of Alaska officials told the House Finance University of Alaska subcommittee on Feb. 20 that they are seeking two $5 million general-fund allocations in the FY26 budget: one for recruitment, retention and graduation programs and one for athletics.

Chad Hutchinson, state director for government relations for the University of Alaska system, said the two requests are “$5,000,000 for recruitment, retention and graduation and $5,000,000 for athletics.” He told the committee the amounts shown in the FY26 red book correlate to a $9.9 million total that includes tuition and fees but that the general-fund portion for each request is $5 million.

The requests are intended to address declining enrollment trends that university officials said threaten the state’s workforce pipeline. Hutchinson said data cited in an EAB consultant report show a drop of about 1,400 in the 18-year-old Alaska population between 2010 and 2022 and a fall in the college-going rate among high-school graduates from 63% to 57%.

Why it matters: The university argued that increasing enrollment produces non-general-fund revenue and helps meet industry demand for skilled workers. Hutchinson said the investment is both a revenue and head-count strategy: “Tuition means headcount too,” and he noted a long-term goal to rebuild the system’s student population after a decline from about 33,000 in 2012 to roughly 19,500 in 2024.

What the requests would buy: University presenters described how the two $5 million requests break down across campuses. - Recruitment/retention ($5 million total): slides and presenters detail multiple line items across campuses, including UAA strategic enrollment funding ($600,000), UAA marketing and recruitment ($500,000), UAF lower-48 and international recruitment capacity ($600,000), UAS outreach positions ($190,000), UAA academic advisors to improve retention ($330,000), UAF retention and graduation initiatives ($600,000), UAS dual-enrollment coordinator ($125,000), UAF student-IT capacity ($150,000), UAF year-to-career workforce expansion ($175,000), and campus-safety investments (UAF $200,000; UAS safety officer and equipment unspecified). Presenters estimated returns in tuition revenue for several line items and projected multi-year multipliers but emphasized follow-up analyses would provide greater detail.

- Athletics ($5 million total): Hutchinson said athletics functions as a “front porch” for UAA and UAF and argued the program affects branding and enrollment. The request was described as $2.5 million for UAA and $2.5 million for UAF. Ryan Buchholz, vice chancellor for administrative services at UAA, said the UAA athletics program has a roughly $9 million total budget and that the $2.5 million request would replace one-time funds used in prior years rather than add on top of existing base funding. Brock Ananson, director of athletics at UAF, and UAF presenters listed higher travel, contractual services and operations costs as drivers of their $2.5 million request; UAF’s athletics budget was cited as about $8.8 million.

Data and follow-up questions: Committee members pressed presenters for more granular data. Owen Guthrie, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at UAF, said the system uses the National Student Clearinghouse and surveys to track where Alaska high-school graduates enroll and to measure yield from applications. Guthrie noted UAF has seen large increases in nonresident applications after joining the Common App and said university recruiters have targets tied to continued employment. He told the committee the Common App produced roughly 4,200 nonresident applications this cycle and that a roughly 10% yield (applications-to-enrollments) is considered “quite good,” though the presenters said yield can be improved with more human outreach and tools.

Committee concerns and clarifications: Members asked for details the university did not have on hand: total current spending on recruitment and retention across the system, multi-year retention rates beyond the first year, precise yield figures for many application pools, and the direct causal link between athletics funding and enrollment. Hutchinson and campus leaders said they would follow up with more detailed breakdowns. On governance issues, presenters said the Board of Regents had recently considered policy changes; university staff said an analysis of the board decision’s financial impacts was ongoing and that federal legal issues had been considered.

No votes were taken. Representatives on the subcommittee asked the university to return with additional slides showing correlations between athletics funding and enrollment, per-campus requests for community campuses, multiyear retention numbers and clearer accounting of how the requested funds would replace or augment existing spending.

Ending: The subcommittee scheduled a follow-up meeting, the subcommittee closeout and amendment hearing, for March 3 at 9 a.m. in Adams 519. Hutchinson and university staff will supply the requested follow-up information to committee offices prior to that meeting.