Ilisagvik College is a public community college located in Barrow, Alaska, on the shore of the Arctic Ocean. The College is the first of a projected five tribally controlled colleges to be created in Alaska and is the northernmost accredited community college in the United States. Accredited in 2002 by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, it offers Associate's degrees as well as one-year certificates in a number of fields. The two-year College serves the North Slope Borough and the Inupiat people, and is dedicated to strengthening Inupiat culture, language, values and traditions. The Tuzzy Consortium Library, named after Evelyn Tuzroyluk Higbee, a member of the original Board of Higher Education for the college, serves as Ilisagvik's academic library.

History

The college had its origins in 1986, when the North Slope Borough created the North Slope Higher Education Center, changing its name in 1991 to Arctic Sivunmun Ilisagvik College. In 1995 the school was able to move to the site previously used by the United States Naval Arctic Research Laboratory and the Borough passed an ordinance incorporating Ilisagvik College as a public and independent non-profit corporation. Ilisagvik College was the lead institution in the 1997 creation of the Consortium for Alaska Native Higher Education (CANHE).

External links

• Ilisagvik College