Three quarters of Alaska's planned college-rule cuts fall on student aid

The state agency that runs Alaska's student financial aid plans to cut 205 of its rules, most of them governing that aid, under a statewide order to shrink regulation.

The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education approved the plan in January. Three-quarters of the cuts fall in student financial aid, and one whole set of rules, the state's education loan program, would be repealed outright. Others cover the Alaska Education Grant, the Alaska Performance Scholarship, the teacher loan program and two out-of-state programs Alaskans use for medical and professional degrees.

Not all of it is aid. The chapter overseeing private colleges would lose pieces of its advertising and refund rules, and part of the rule on what happens when a school closes, a provision the plan itself says makes sure students are "timely notified, refunded fairly, and offered substantially equivalent alternatives if their program or institution closes." That's the kind of consumer protection worth watching as the cuts move forward.

The push comes from an August 2025 order by Gov. Mike Dunleavy directing every executive agency to cut its regulatory requirements 15 percent by the end of this year and 25 percent by the end of 2027, while keeping "critical consumer protection" in place.

Nothing is repealed yet. Each change still has to clear the state's rulemaking process, including public comment.