Prince William Sound Community College

Location and Contact Information

303 Lowe Street
Valdez, AK 99686
USA
Main Tel: (907) 834-1600
Web Site

The campus is in a quiet rural area.

Overview

Prince William Sound Community College, PWSCC, is one of the community campuses of the University of Alaska Anchorage. It was originally established as a learning center in 1971. By 1976, classes were held in three centers in Valdez, Copper Basin, and Cordova. In July, 1978, community college status was granted and these centers merged to form Prince William Sound Community College. The main campus of PWSCC is situated in Valdez, Alaska. The college also operates extensions sites in Cordova, and the Copper Basin.

Prince William Sound Community College grants the Associate of Arts, and Associate of Applied Science degrees. Bachelor's degrees are awarded in the fields of business administration, human services, science, and technology. Several certificate courses of study are also available at PWSCC.

Students of PWSCC are members of various on-campus clubs and organizations includeing Phi Theta Kappa, the Multicultural Student Association, the PWSCC Archery Club, and the Student Association. The student body of the college has representatives from countries like Japan, South Korea, Colombia, Ecuador, Latvia, Nigeria, and Cameroon.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

  • Many students concentrating in education and teaching, liberal arts, and engineering technician.
  • Many mature (40+ year old) students.
  • Number of dorm rooms for students.
  • High faculty salary.
  • High male/female ratio.
  • Affordable tuition & fees.
  • Superior share of faculty on tenure track.

School characteristics:

  • The school is public.
  • Academic calender: Semester.
  • Carnegie classification: Associates Colleges.

Features of note:

  • Open admission; accepts all qualified candidates.
  • The school offers a faculty tenure system.
  • Campus housing is available.
  • Distance learning is available.
  • Part-time classes are available.

Tuition and Financial Aid (2009-2010)

ItemCost
State Tuition and fees$ 4,300
Room and board$ 5,000
Books and supplies$ 650
Other$ 1,754

Financial Aid

Prince William Sound Community College participates in US Title IV financial assistance programs.

In 2009-2010, 64% of students received financial aid of some sort.

Grants% of
Students		Average
Amount
Any Grant36%$4,111
Institutional Grant16%$385
Federal Grant36%$3,495
Pell Grant36%$3,329
Other Federal Grant16%$375
State or Local Grant12%$1,333

Loans% of
Students		Average
Amount
Student Loan32%$7,499
Federal Loan32%$5,438
Other Loan8%$8,245

(Please refer to BrainTrack's financial aid articles section for background information.)

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Prince William Sound Community College:

Click a column header to sort.

 SchoolLocationEnrollment
1College of the CanyonsSanta Clarita, CA21,010
2Santiago Canyon CollegeOrange, CA14,034
3West Valley CollegeSaratoga, CA11,762
4Coastline Community CollegeFountain Valley, CA12,011
5Gavilan CollegeGilroy, CA7,509
6Columbia CollegeSonora, CA3,419
7American River CollegeSacramento, CA34,610
8Monterey Peninsula CollegeMonterey, CA9,396
9City College of San FranciscoSan Francisco, CA34,868
10Charter Oak State CollegeNew Britain, CT1,988

Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

DegreeTotal
Earned		Different
Programs
Associate217
< 1 year certificate 1
1-2 year certificate 3

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Full-Time Faculty  Total
With tenure  5
Without tenure; working toward tenure  2
Without tenure; tenure not available  1

Students

Student enrollment was 738 in 2009-2010 (277 full-time equivalent).

Undergrads are 100% of enrolled students.

Students under 25 years old represent 52% of the student body. About 27% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Room and Board

Prince William Sound Community College provides on-campus housing for 45 of its 277 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010).

Graduate School Focus

The highest degree offered is the Associate.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (2 awarded)

  • Management Information Systems

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (0 awarded)

  • Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (4 awarded)

  • Special Education and Teaching

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (3 awarded)

  • Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians

LIBERAL ARTS (12 awarded)

  • Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies

MEDIA (0 awarded)

  • Broadcast Journalism

OFFICE AND ADMINISTRATION (0 awarded)

  • Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science