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Our History

In Brief

The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) was established by the Alaska Legislature in 1974 to administer student aid programs and regulate postsecondary educational institutions in the state. In 1987, the Legislature created the Alaska Student Loan Corporation (ASLC), a public entity whose mission is to provide low-interest student loans to Alaska residents. These two organizations work together to improve educational opportunities for Alaskans.

Together ACPE and ASLC administer various outreach and financial aid programs to make higher education more accessible to Alaskans. Through AlaskAdvantage Programs we are able to offer Alaskans the lowest-cost education loan package (federal + supplemental) in the nation!

Agency Timeline

  • 1968--The Alaska Legislature establishes a scholarship loan program for undergraduate students studying at an accredited Alaska institution. The program is administered by the Department of Education. Students can borrow $500 per year, interest-free, for up to four years. Program participants who remain in Alaska at the end of their education program receive forgiveness benefits at a rate of $500 for each six months of Alaska residency.
  • 1970--Annual loan limit increases to $750.
  • 1971--The Alaska Legislature substantially changes the loan program. Loans are now also available for career education and graduate programs, with annual loan limits at $2,500 for undergraduates and $5,000 for graduate students for a total of up to six years of study. Repayment period interest of 5% is charged. Up to 40% of the total loan can be forgiven if the borrower is employed in Alaska for four years after completing their studies. The state finances the loans from the state General Fund based upon a desire to use increased state oil revenue, in part, to increase educational opportunities for Alaskans. The program receives this generous support from the General Fund for the next fifteen years.
  • 1974--The Legislature creates the Commission to be the state coordinating agency for postsecondary education, to administer student aid programs, coordinate and plan for postsecondary education in the state, as well as authorize and regulate postsecondary education institutions in Alaska.
  • 1976--The Legislature again raises loan maximums ($3,000 for undergraduate).
  • 1981--Next significant changes are made. Annual maximums for undergraduate and graduates are again raised and set at $6,000 and $7,000, respectively. Forgiveness benefits increase to 50% based on five years of residency in the state.
  • 1987--As oil prices and state oil revenues decline drastically, state funding is no longer assured. The Legislature creates the Alaska Student Loan Corporation (ASLC/Corporation) to raise alternative financing through the issuance of tax-exempt bonds. Program changes include elimination of forgiveness benefits and reductions in interest subsidies for borrowers. Long-range plans call for reduced subsidy to the program from state appropriations.
  • 1992--Efforts to continue to capitalize the program end as the state continues to face annual deficits in the state operating and capital budgets.
  • 1995--Legislative changes to the loan programs are implemented in an effort to stem program losses due to defaults, borrower disabilities, and death. Changes are primarily to the terms of the loans to either improve the quality of the loan or the financial return on the loan to insure the program becomes financially self-sustaining. Commission is also provided with a variety of statutory collection levers for use in collecting from borrowers in default.
  • 1998--Demonstrating the effect of program changes, the Corporation’s financial statements show a modest, yet positive, net income for the first time in its history.
  • 2001--The Corporation begins to annually pay a financial return to the state, its original investor.  Legislature passes the AlaskAdvantage bill and charges the Corporation to leverage their newly found financial health to develop new programs to enable Alaska individuals and communities to access the benefits of higher education.
  • 2002--The Commission puts into place the AlaskAdvantage financial aid and outreach programs and services which include federal Stafford and PLUS loans in addition to the state supplemental education loan.  This has provided an avenue for the Commission to provide the lowest education loan interest rate in the nation to its Alaska residents and to students from other states who choose to attend Alaska schools.  Commission implements rural outreach programs, with successful debut of programs in Bethel, Dillingham, Galena, Kotzebue, Nome and Unalaska.
  • 2003--The Commission introduces consolidation loan opportunity for borrowers repaying higher cost Alaska Student Loans.
  • 2004--The Commission introduces consolidation of qualifying federal loans, regardless of where the loans were borrowed, into one fixed rate loan.
  • 2005 --The Commission received its first outreach grant to implement College Goal Sunday, designed to help students and families, particularly low-income and first generation college goers, clear the paperwork hurdle of applying for financial aid.
  • 2005 --Commission develops and implements the AlaskAdvantage Education Grant Program, providing "last dollar" education grants to Alaska's postsecondary students who have received all the non-loan aid for which they qualify, but who need additional assistance in meeting their costs of education. 
  • 2007--ACPE enters into partnership with Alaska's Department of Labor and Workforce Development and Department of Education and Early Development to deliver the Alaska Career Information System (AKCIS), an enhanced, web-based interactive education and career planning software package, to schools, districts, and education/career mentoring organizations in Alaska with no subscription fee.
  • 2007--The Alaska Legislature approves statutory changes which expand the WWAMI program to annually provide a minimum of 20 slots for Alaska residents pursuing a graduate medical education degree, ultimately resulting in Alaska's full complement of WWAMI participants totaling 80 students at any given time.
  • 2008--Governor Palin authorizes the Commission to apply for and administer Alaska's federal College Access Challenge Grant Program aimed at increasing the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.
  • 2009 -- Successfully implemented the College Access Challenge Grant Program, placing two peer mentors in the pilot location of Service High School in Anchorage to assist students with planning for postsecondary education. 

 

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