Minorities in Higher Education: The Changing North

Abstract

This report examines the educational status of ethnic and racial minorities in Alaska and draws attention to the ways demographic changes in Alaska may affect these groups. The Alaska Native population, as opposed to other ethnic minorities, is the focal point of this study. This is the largest minority group in the state and the one experiencing the greatest economic and social difficulties. This group has been growing in absolute size but not as a proportion of the general state population. A decline in world oil prices has caused the state to be less able to support the expensive delivery system developed during the 1970s to provide access to higher education in the remote villages where the majority of Alaska Native live. Information in this report comes primarily from the 1980 census of higher education collected by the Office of Civil Rights and the National Center for Educational Statistics. The information is organized into ten tabular presentations with accompanying explanations. This report contains 12 references.(All)