The University of Alaska reported Wednesday that student participation in its Ed Rising teacher pipeline program grew 73 percent from last year, offering hope for addressing Alaska's chronic teacher shortage of 324 vacancies.

Dr. Bridget Weiss, the university's liaison to the Alaska College of Education Consortium, told the House Education Committee that enrollment in teacher education programs increased across all three UA campuses for fall 2026 compared to fall 2025. The university is preparing to award more than $1 million in scholarships to 109 teacher candidates, with 43 receiving full funding plus living stipends.

"We had from a year ago to this year 73% growth in student participation. That is incredible," Weiss said. "There's room for lots more growth."

The enrollment surge follows years of regulatory streamlining by state education officials. Since 2017, the State Board of Education has approved 31 regulation changes to certification. The changes include expanded alternative certification routes, new certificate and endorsement types, aligned teacher assessments and reciprocity, and streamlined certification processes. Kelly Manning, deputy director of innovation and education excellence at the Department of Education and Early Development, said the changes were designed to strengthen the workforce while making it easier for educators to access certification and providing more opportunities for districts to bring on different types of educators.

Manning also reported that the state's online certification system, which fully launched in June 2024 after stopping paper applications, has reduced processing times to four to six weeks after initially experiencing a backlog. "We piloted with a small number of applications in 2023, fully launching and stopping paper applications in June of 2024," Manning said. "At that time, because we had a backlog of paper applications that we needed to get into the new system, because there was, you know, as there are with new online systems, some glitches and things, our processing times got pretty long, and I know you heard about that, but we now have gotten down to the standard processing time of about four to six weeks."

Commissioner Deena Bishop told lawmakers that a working group of about six superintendents is identifying additional regulatory adjustments. The group is reviewing finalization requirements, Praxis testing, the availability of portfolio options as an alternative to test scores, and clarifying language around major and minor requirements that complicate reciprocity from other states.

The Ed Rising program, which focuses on recruiting high school students into teaching careers, has expanded into rural communities across Alaska. Weiss said many participants are excited about becoming educators, though not all will ultimately choose teaching as a career.