University of Alaska, Fairbanks, School of Management Admission
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, School of Management Undergraduate Program
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, School of Management Application

The Facts

The University of Alaska at Fairbanks is a rather moderately sized, public institution located in the city of Fairbanks, Alaska, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 8,420 students. The university's graduate program in the School of Management, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 40 graduate business students. Approximately 80% of the currently enrolled students have had an average of about 9 years of full-time professional experience, a factor taken into serious consideration by the admissions committee when reviewing applications. Perhaps as a result of this fact, the average age of enrollment is around 27, however, ages range from 23 to 55. Approximately 5% of the currently enrolled students entered directly from undergraduate school, while about 2% already have a graduate degree of some sort. The university's graduate business program is perhaps best known for its emphasis on problem solving as well as case methods. The school offers graduate business degrees in the Master of Business Administration (MBA), as well as doctoral programs in education and business. The school also offers its students plenty of internship and work-study opportunities, as well as several foreign exchange partnerships. Some of the most popular programs of study include courses in the areas of finance, resource economics, management, decision theory, accounting, as well as investment strategies.

Admission to the university's graduate business program is not terribly competitive among the relatively few students who apply; last year, over 19 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 16 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 13 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.43, as well as an average GMAT score of about 472. The admissions committee requires all applicants to have a minimum undergraduate GPA of at least a 3.0, as well as a minimum GMAT score of at least 400. Students are able to begin their graduate course work in either the fall or the spring, and are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis.

The university's graduate business program has 13 full-time faculty members, all of whom hold a doctorate; there is also 1 part-time faculty member. The average graduate business class usually numbers around 15, and most faculty members teach an average of 4 courses at any given time.

Placement Services

The school has rather limited placement services as a result of the fact that most students are already fully employed when they enroll. The limited services that are available, however, are available to both current students as well as alumni for an unlimited amount of time after they obtain their degrees, and include career counseling, online job listings, resume referrals, as well as mock interviews.

What's Good

"The program is nice and small, so you pretty much know everyone within it, as well as all your professors."

"I love all of my professors; they are obviously very passionate about their jobs here."

"There are a pretty diverse range of courses available here, which is certainly nice."

What's Bad

"It's nice that the program is so small, but it can also make things get pretty intense and competitive."

"I wish there were some joint degrees available, or at least more choices in the degrees you can obtain."

"Fairbanks has some business, but otherwise, it's pretty isolated."

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