Law Schools Are Coming to Alaska — Sort Of
Credit: Blue Poppy / Moment / Getty Images- In early October, Seattle University School of Law and the University of Alaska Anchorage announced a partnership to launch a Hybrid Hub law school.
- This comes months after Seattle University School of Law and Alaska Pacific University announced a joint JD/MBA program.
- Alaska university leaders are hoping these programs will serve Alaskans in a state where there is no law school and a shortage of trained lawyers.
Earlier this month, the Anchorage Daily News reported that defendants in at least 930 misdemeanor cases in Anchorage, Alaska — ranging from child abuse to domestic violence — have walked free without trial since May 1 due to the state’s shortage of prosecutors.
One reason for the shortage, according to university leaders, is that Alaska is the only state without a law school. This means Alaskans interested in a career in law must attend school out of state or complete an online program.
“Unfortunately, many do not pursue these interests because they are not interested in leaving Alaska. Many cannot abandon their work and family commitments to attend law school out of state,” Andre Rosay, associate dean for academic and student affairs at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) College of Health, told BestColleges. UAA’s legal studies program and Justice Center fall within the College of Health.
To address the workforce shortage, UAA and Seattle University School of Law (Seattle U Law) are establishing the Alaska Hybrid Hub, a hybrid law program that offers Alaska law students the resources of a brick-and-mortar law school. This will be the first Juris Doctor (JD) program in the state.
“With this Hybrid Hub, students will now be able to attend law school here in Alaska, taking classes here in Alaska, and studying here in Alaska. By staying here in Alaska, there is a much greater chance that they will remain in Alaska to practice law,” Rosay said.
Through the Hybrid Hub at UAA, students will have access to brick-and-mortar resources like the library, computers, the internet, and study spaces. Alaska lawyers will also serve as adjunct professors, which creates opportunities for flex students in Anchorage to interact in person with faculty.
“This new partnership ensures we are educating Alaska students for Alaska jobs,” Rosay said. “These Alaska graduates will fill critical gaps in the legal landscape throughout the state.”
The flexibility of the Hybrid Hub is meant to draw more students from legal deserts into the law profession.
Kelli Rodriguez, assistant dean for academic affairs at Seattle U Law, told BestColleges that Seattle University has always served Alaska students. There is a strong alumni base in the state, as Seattle U Law is one of the closest law schools. There are also currently Flex JD students in Alaska.
Rodriguez says that after 20 years of Seattle U Law offering a part-time program, and four years of a hybrid program, this expansion into Alaska is just an extension of their commitment to meeting students where they are at in their law school journey.
“UAA is proud to create innovative pathways for legal education here in Alaska,” Sean Parnell, UAA chancellor, former Alaska governor, and 1987 graduate of what is now the Seattle University School of Law, said in a press release. “This partnership empowers students by allowing them to attend law school without moving out of state.”
2 New Law Programs for Alaska Students
In early May 2024, Seattle U Law announced a dual JD and master of business administration (MBA) program in partnership with Alaska Pacific University (APU), a private university whose campus abuts UAA.
There are no current students enrolled in the program since applications just opened this year for admission in fall 2025. The partnership with APU is purely academic, but Seattle U officials say it may grow to include aspects of the Hub at UAA. Seattle U Law has had a JD/MBA program for many years.
The JD/MBA program with APU is an accelerated program for both degrees offered through part-time, hybrid-online delivery. Most coursework will be completed online, except for a few weekends a year when students will travel to Seattle for in-person classes.
After applying to and being accepted by both schools separately, students will fully complete one discipline before moving on to the next. Students can enroll in the Flex JD program without earning an MBA, but students who complete their MBA first can transfer some credits to accelerate their JD program or lighten their course load.
“COVID taught us a lot, and one of the things we learned as lawyers, as legal educators, is that we can deliver high-quality legal education online,” Seattle U Law Dean Anthony E. Varona said in a press release.
“The legal profession has become a hybridized profession; lawyers are working remotely because law is now practiced in a hybrid way. It makes sense to learn law in a hybrid format because you’re going to practice law in a hybrid format.”
Addressing legal deserts and meeting students where they are geographically were key missions for Varona when he joined Seattle U, said Rodriguez. The law school sees the Hybrid Hub and JD Flex programs as ways to accomplish this.
“We all know that online legal education is where we’re headed. This is absolutely the future, and we expect a lot of growth in this area just across the board,” Rodriguez said.
While she projects that there still will be demand for in-person programs, they are seeing a big demand across the country for hybrid and online programs.
“We expect the capacity will grow; we expect that our cohort in the flex program will grow. We’ve seen growth every single year since we’ve been accepting students into the flex program,” she said.
Meeting Students Where They Are Geographically
Rodriguez said Seattle U Law has a “long tradition of meeting students where they are at.” The Flex JD program was built off the part-time program at Seattle U Law. Conceived of before the pandemic, it’s now in its fourth year and is graduating its first full cohort this December.
Seattle U Law has two other Hybrid Hubs: one in the South Sound area of Washington that launched in March, and the other in Yakima, Washington, which was launched in September.
There is an enrollment cap on the total capacity for the Flex JD programs. As a private school, there is no in-state or out-of-state tuition, just a flat rate. However, scholarships are available. Tuition will be the same for all JD programs whether they are in person or online.
Rodriguez explained this is why they work hard to make the in-person weekends special for students. She said it is important to them to make sure Flex JD students feel connected to the university, and to the school of law.
Recent research shows students in exclusively online programs complete their degrees at lower percentages than non-exclusively online students. Researchers suggest that a mix of online flexibility and in-person support can bridge these gaps.
“We’re better when we have more diversity in our classrooms, our conversations are richer,” Rodriguez said.
“The number of students applying to Flex is only going to increase. And I hope that that just makes our classrooms all the better both in rigor and in discussion and in the number and quality of alums we are able to put into the legal profession.”
Already, Seattle U Law is hearing from interested students.
Several UAA undergraduates interested in becoming lawyers attended the Oct. 10 launch of the Hybrid Hub with UAA. And the day Seattle U Law officials spoke with BestColleges, they had a student reach out for additional info on the Anchorage Hub. Applications for fall 2025 law school classes are now open.
“We are thankful to Seattle University, not just for providing our UAA students an incredible opportunity to study law in Alaska, but also for providing them the opportunity to stay and practice in Alaska to make our people and communities safer and healthier,” Rosay said.