About Us
Outer Coast is a new postsecondary institution in Sitka, Alaska. We offer an immersive, community-based, and student-governed curriculum for students from across Alaska and around the world, and are on the path to becoming a two-year college in fall 2024.
Our mission is to teach and inspire young people to create virtuous change in the world and in their own lives through academics, service & labor, and self-governance. Outer Coast is founded on the belief that students, in partnership with faculty and staff, should have agency and autonomy in their education and the responsibility to contribute meaningfully to the communities to which they belong.
Outer Coast seeks to serve a student body that is national and international in breadth and diverse in many ways, including racial, ethnic, cultural, and gender identities, and socioeconomic status. Outer Coast emphasizes reaching students from across Alaska, particularly Alaska Natives and rural Alaskans, as well as other high-potential students from backgrounds underrepresented and underserved in American higher education.
We support Alaska Native language revitalization efforts through our free Alaska Native Language Massive Open Online Courses, our annual Tlingit Language Conference in Sitka, and other community partnerships.
How Pick.Click.Give. makes a difference
Funds from the Pick.Click.Give program will support high school and postsecondary students from across Alaska and around the world in attending Outer Coast programs in 2023-2024, staff and technology expenses to run Alaska Native Language programming, and our team’s continued work towards opening the college in fall 2024.
Outer Coast admissions are need-blind, and students establish their own cost of attendance based on their families’ financial means. Outer Coast meets 100% of demonstrated financial need and cost is not a barrier to attendance. In order to serve all of our students and make progress on efforts such as accreditation and capacity building towards the college proper, we rely on generous donations from community members and institutional funders.
