Alaska ranking · Clery-reported enrollment 2024

The Largest Universities in Alaska

Every Alaska college and university that reports an enrolment to the U.S. Department of Education, ranked biggest first. Total enrolment counts online and distance students, so an institution with a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

10,493
Largest in Alaska
10
Institutions reporting
593
Median Alaska institution
#51
of 51 states by enrolment

University of Alaska Anchorage is the largest institution in Alaska with 10,493 students

According to U.S. Department of Education campus-safety enrollment filings for 2024, University of Alaska Anchorage leads Alaska at 10,493 students, and the five largest hold 96.3% of state enrollment. This list covers all 10 reporting institutions. Totals include online learners, so a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

Largest in Alaska
10,493
Institutions reporting
10
State students in top 5
96.3%
Median Alaska institution
593

Alaska in one line

University of Alaska Anchorage is the largest institution in Alaska with 10,493 students, about 18x the 593 of the median institution in the state. 96.3% of every student in the state is enrolled at just these five institutions, so Alaska's higher education is concentrated at the top.

10,493
students at University of Alaska Anchorage
96.3%
of state students, in the top 5
22,995
students enrolled across Alaska
38
the #10 cutoff

Enrollment is total students reported in the OPE campus-safety disclosure for 2024, including online and distance learners. IPEDS supplies institution location and sector. The incident column is reported on-campus Clery Act incidents per 1,000 enrolled students.

Size joined to safety

Among the 4 mid-to-large campuses on this Alaska size list, 1 report below the 1.58 national median incident rate per 1,000, 0 also rank in the national safest-50, and the list averages 6.03 against that 1.58 median (University of Alaska Anchorage itself reports 12.48).

4
mid-to-large campuses on this list
1
below 1.58 national median /1k
0
also in national safest-50
12.48
University of Alaska Anchorage rate /1k

Incident rates are on-campus Clery Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports per 1,000 enrolled students for campuses with enrollment ≥ 2,000 and a national safety rank. A lower rate is not a personal safety verdict, reporting culture and online enrollment dilute raw counts. See /rankings/safest-campuses for the size-fair national list.

What this ranking shows about Alaska

Alaska ranks 51st by total enrolment among the states and DC, so even its largest institutions are modest against national leaders. 5 of the 10 institutions reporting enrolment here are public, an unusually public-heavy sector, so the top of this list is largely a map of the state's public systems.

Ranking by total enrolment puts institutions with large online programmes above institutions with larger physical campuses, because a virtual student body is not limited by classrooms or housing. A list of the biggest campuses by students physically present would order differently, and neither list is more correct, because they answer different questions. Enrolment here is the total headcount an institution reported to the federal OPE reporting cohort, which counts undergraduate and graduate students together and makes no distinction between full-time and part-time study. A university with a very large part-time or continuing-education population can therefore outrank one with more students on campus on any given weekday.

The incident-rate column is here because institution size changes how a raw incident count should be read, not because a larger university is more or less safe. Two institutions with the same number of reported incidents are not comparable if one enrols five times as many students, so the column expresses incidents per thousand enrolled. A rate still reflects reporting practice as much as underlying risk: an institution that encourages reporting and investigates thoroughly can record more incidents than one that does neither, and that is the opposite of what a naive reading suggests. Institutions where most students study online show diluted rates, because the denominator counts students who never set foot on a campus. Read the column as context for the size ranking, never as a safety verdict, and see our methodology for how both figures are assembled. For the same institutions ranked by cost rather than size, see the cheapest colleges rankings, or browse every institution we hold a record for.

Comparing states? See the 50 largest universities in the US, or this state's campus safety profile.

Every reporting institution in Alaska is listed below. Here is how their enrollments spread:

Alaska enrollment distribution

Clery-reported enrollment · 10 Alaska institutions · 2024

38 Top 100% higher than 0% of 10 Alaska institutions

Show national distribution 0–2,000: 6 Alaska institutions (60%). This entry sits in this band. 2,000–4,000: 2 Alaska institutions (20%). Above this entry. 4,000–6,000: 0 Alaska institutions (0%). Above this entry. 6,000–8,000: 1 Alaska institutions (10%). Above this entry. 8,000–10,000: 0 Alaska institutions (0%). Above this entry. 10,000–12,000: 1 Alaska institutions (10%). Above this entry. Smallest on list 0 12,000 every Alaska institution, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more Alaska institutions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey · 2024

All 10 ranked institutions in Alaska

3
Charter CollegeAnchorage, AK · Private for-profit
Enrollment
2,157
Incidents /1k
0.00
#InstitutionEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1University of Alaska AnchorageAnchorage, AK · Public10,493100% of the leader · rank #112.48
2University of Alaska FairbanksFairbanks, AK · Public6,89366% of the leader · rank #29.14
3Charter CollegeAnchorage, AK · Private for-profit2,15721% of the leader · rank #30.00
4University of Alaska SoutheastJuneau, AK · Public2,00019% of the leader · rank #42.50
5Alaska Pacific UniversityAnchorage, AK · Private nonprofit5936% of the leader · rank #50.00
6Alaska Vocational Technical CenterSeward, AK · Public2694% of the leader · rank #60.00
7Ilisagvik CollegeBarrow, AK · Public2564% of the leader · rank #70.00
8Alaska Career CollegeAnchorage, AK · Private for-profit2504% of the leader · rank #80.00
9Alaska Christian CollegeSoldotna, AK · Private nonprofit464% of the leader · rank #90.00
10Alaska Bible CollegePalmer, AK · Private nonprofit384% of the leader · rank #100.00

What to do with this

Size is a starting filter for Alaska, not a verdict on any institution.

Institutions below the reporting floor, or without enrolment in the Campus Safety and Security Survey cohort for 2024, do not appear on this list. IPEDS supplies classification and location.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Campus Safety and Security Survey (enrollment and Clery disclosures), joined to the IPEDS institutional directory (location and classification)

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page is computed at request time from the federal source tables; no ranking position or count is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-11.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.