Ilisagvik College

Iḷisaġvik College provides educational opportunities to all who wish to pursue their post-secondary education, with an emphasis on the needs of North Slope residents. Iḷisaġvik believes that learning is a continuing, life-long process.

The College was founded to primarily serve the residents of the North Slope Borough, America’s largest and most northern municipality. The intent of its founders was to provide an education based on the Iñupiaq cultural heritage. The basis for all  Iḷisaġvik’s educational programs is the rich foundation of a subsistence culture in harmony with the land and seas that give it sustenance.

Iḷisaġvik achieved accreditation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities in 2003 and is authorized by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education to operate in the state of Alaska. In 2006, it also became the first and only federally recognized tribal college in Alaska.

Iḷisaġvik College weaves Iñupiaq values into all its activities because it believes these values make its students and educational community stronger, more cohesive and more successful. Being true to the core values of the culture it predominantly serves helps to make Iḷisaġvik a valued and contributing member of that culture. By helping to strengthen the language and traditions of the Iñupiat, Iḷisaġvik fulfills its role as a distinctly indigenous institution that aims to enhance the local culture, while helping its students gain a foothold in the economy of the 21st century. Iḷisaġvik’s goal is to create successful graduates who can incorporate their traditional values into modern life and, in doing so, enhances both.