Alaska
Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.
Alaska at China’s rate would graduate 474 engineers a year. It graduates 143.
Alaska produces 143 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 1,429 total, a mid-pack engineering producer, from 3 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 474. Output is growing (+9.3% over three years). Gap Score: 30% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 760 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 23% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
Alaska is missing 331 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 4x the annual output of University of Alaska Anchorage.
Where Alaska’s engineers are made.
3 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in Alaska. The top 3 account for 100% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Alaska Anchorage | 78 | 10.5% |
| 2 | University of Alaska Fairbanks | 58 | 12.4% |
| 3 | Charter College | 7 | 13.8% |
Jobs vs. degrees
Alaska's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.
Openings against output
Where the openings are
| Occupation | Openings / yr |
|---|---|
| Civil Engineers | 70 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 60 |
| Civil Engineering Technicians | 50 |
| Engineering Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other | 50 |
| Engineers, All Other | 50 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 40 |
Coverage: degrees ÷ openings
Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: Alaska labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Alaska's megaprojects need engineers the state does not produce
Alaska is pursuing a $44 billion LNG line, a $9 billion Arctic oil project, critical-minerals mines, and Golden Dome missile-defense work in a state that graduates 143 engineering and CS bachelor's a year and already imports nearly a quarter of its workforce.
The drain.
Alaska produces too few graduates and fills the gap with nonresident workers: nearly one in four workers does not live in the state.
Sources: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development via Alaska Public Media and Alaska Beacon; University of Alaska (9 in 10 UA grads work in-state within a year)
Who’s covering it.
Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.
The fix, in Alaska.
Fund engineering students before pipe-laying starts
Alaska's colleges produce 174 engineering and CS degrees a year, associate and bachelor's combined, against 760 annual openings, the second-worst coverage in the country. On the bachelor's benchmark its gap per resident is the smallest in the nation. A Digital ROTC service-for-tuition track at UA Anchorage and UA Fairbanks, sized to Alaska LNG and Willow demand, would grow the only pipeline the state actually controls.
Tie project deals to local seats
Glenfarne signed an Alaska-hire MOU with the building trades, but nothing binds engineering hires. The state should condition AGDC's 25% stake and any support for LNG, Willow, or Graphite One on funded UA engineering cohorts and paid in-state placements, converting 22.7% nonresident hire into resident careers.
Grow the associate-to-engineer ladder
One in five of Alaska's engineering and CS credentials is an associate degree, earned at UA community campuses close to home. Service-for-tuition at those campuses, stacking into UAF and UAA engineering, fits a state where 9 in 10 UA grads already stay and work in Alaska. Alaska's shortfall is in production.
What Digital ROTC would fund
Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In Alaska, 18% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.