History Degrees in Alaska

On December 18, 1971 President Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the largest land claims settlement in American history. It did something no earlier settlement had done. Instead of federal trust reservations of the kind used in the Lower 48, it created 12 regional corporations and more than 200 village corporations under Alaska state law, with Native shareholders owning the land and assets directly. It also extinguished aboriginal land claims across the state and every Indian reservation in Alaska except Metlakatla. One consequence has been argued over ever since: the Act fixed the shareholder class on the day it was signed, so Alaska Natives born after 1971 were not automatically included. A statute turned a date into a boundary, and people have been living inside that boundary for over fifty years. It is exactly the kind of question a history degree trains you to take apart. In Alaska there are very few places to go and learn how.

Alaska has 2 colleges and universities offering history degrees, with 2 programs between them, both bachelor’s degrees.

That is the smallest history offering of any state in the country.

Where You Can Study History in Alaska

Two schools offer history in Alaska, so there is nothing to rank. Both are University of Alaska campuses, both are public, and both offer a single B.A. in History. Completion rates below are institution-wide instead of history-specific, and both campuses serve large part-time and commuter populations, which pulls those figures down.

University of Alaska Anchorage

Anchorage offers a B.A. in History at $7,738, the cheaper of the two by about $1,000. It is the larger campus and sits in the state’s largest city, which matters for anyone combining study with work. It is classified as a master’s university, not a research institution.

• History programs: 1
• Levels offered: Bachelor’s
• Carnegie classification: Master’s university, larger programs
• In-state tuition and fees: $7,738

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Fairbanks offers a B.A. in History at $8,736 and is the state’s research campus, classified R2. Its history degree is also the only online history program in Alaska, so for anyone in a community off the road system it is effectively the only in-state option that does not require relocating.

• History programs: 1
• Levels offered: Bachelor’s
• Carnegie classification: R2, high research activity
• In-state tuition and fees: $8,736

Most Affordable History Degrees in Alaska

Most affordable history degrees in Alaska

Rank	School	Program	Tuition per year
1	University of Alaska Anchorage	B.A. in History	$7,738
2	University of Alaska Fairbanks	B.A. in History	$8,736

Annual in-state tuition and fees. Two entries is the complete list. No third school in Alaska teaches the subject. Both are public, and there is no private college offering a history degree anywhere in the state.

History Education in Alaska

This is the shortest section on any state page we publish, because there is not much to describe and padding it would be dishonest.

Alaska has two history programs. Both are a B.A. in History, both are at University of Alaska campuses, and both are public. There is no history master’s and no history doctorate in the state. No school here carries R1 classification. No program in our listings carries a named field, so there is no art history degree, no public history track, and no museum studies credential. Alaska is also one of only five states where no private college offers a history degree at all, alongside New Mexico, Nevada, Delaware, and Wyoming, and it is much the smallest of that group.

What this means in practice is straightforward. For an undergraduate history degree Alaska has two reasonable and inexpensive options, about $1,000 apart. For anything past a bachelor’s, the plan involves leaving the state or studying at a distance with an institution elsewhere. Our guide to online history degrees covers what is available remotely, and Fairbanks runs the state’s one online program if you want to stay with a University of Alaska campus.

Transfer between the campuses is handled better than in most states, and the wording is what makes it good. University of Alaska policy is that credit completed at one UA institution toward general education requirements fulfills the same categories at all other UA institutions, and it says explicitly that this applies even where the receiving campus has no directly matching course. Most state guarantees break down at exactly that point, when a student arrives with a course the new campus does not teach. Alaska’s says the category is satisfied anyway. The system also publishes a General Education Transfer Guide mapping courses across Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Southeast, and history courses appear on it at all three. Details are in the University of Alaska Fairbanks catalog.

Becoming a History Teacher in Alaska

Teaching certificates in Alaska are issued by the Department of Education and Early Development, and applicants for initial certification must hold a passing score in reading, writing, and mathematics.

The content-area requirement is set in regulation rather than in guidance, at 4 AAC 12.407, and it gives a history graduate something most states do not: a choice of exam, including a history-specific one.

• World and U.S. History, test code 5941 or 0941, required score 141.
• Social Studies: Content Knowledge, test code 5081 or 0081, required score 152.
• Social Studies: Content and Interpretation, test code 5086, required score 153.
• Middle School Social Studies, test code 5089 or 0089, required score 149.

The regulation also designates Government/Political Science (5931 or 0931, score 149) and Geography (5921 or 0921, score 149) for those content areas separately.

That first line is the useful one. A history major can certify on a history exam rather than being tested across geography, economics, and government, which is the position on most other pages on this site. Alaska is one of a handful of states that allow it. Texas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Michigan also offer a history-specific credential or exam; most of the rest test the whole social studies field.

One caution about the codes. The department reviews the designated examinations annually, and ETS has been retiring older four-digit codes across the country, so check that the version you are booking is the one currently designated. Confirm with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development before booking anything.

History Careers in Alaska

History Careers in Alaska

Occupation	Alaska jobs	Alaska median	vs. U.S. median
Secondary school teachers	2,790	$79,650	+11%
Curators	90	$63,880	+0.7%
Postsecondary history teachers	not published	not published	n/a
Archivists	not published	not published	n/a
Historians	not published	not published	n/a

Employment and wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Three of the five occupations were withheld entirely, both counts and wages, which is normal where the sample is too small to publish safely.

Only two rows survive, and both are better than you might expect.

There are 2,790 secondary teaching posts in Alaska and the median is $79,650, running 11% ahead of the national rate. That is the great majority of the history-adjacent employment in the state, and it sits above the national figure, not below it. Set against tuition of $7,738, the arithmetic for someone planning to teach in Alaska is genuinely favorable, at least before cost of living is considered.

Curators earn $63,880, which is within a rounding error of the national median, on about 90 positions. A small market paying the going rate.

Three rows are blank, so on college teaching, archives, and research work Alaska is simply unmeasured. Treat those as unknown rather than as poor, and ask institutions directly.

One caution that applies to both published figures: these are nominal wages and Alaska’s cost of living, especially outside Anchorage and Fairbanks, is not comparable to the national average. An 11% premium is a smaller premium than it looks.

History Resources in Alaska

• Research Center at the APK, 395 Whittier Street, second floor, Juneau. This is the one to know, because Alaska put two collections behind a single reference desk: the Alaska State Archives and the Alaska State Library Historical Collections, staffed by both. The archives hold over 25,000 cubic feet of state records covering the territorial and state eras, along with photographs, maps, and audio and video, plus District and Territorial vital records for genealogical work. The historical collections add manuscripts, business records, more than 130,000 images, over 50,000 publications, and the most comprehensive collections of Alaskan newspapers available anywhere. Open Monday to Friday, 10 to 4. Appointments are strongly encouraged, and walk-ins may be accommodated. Workstations, photocopying, and scanning are available on site.

Frequently Asked Questions