It is funny how this opinion piece defines "smart."  I was born and raised in Alaska.  All the "smart" kids I know stayed in Alaska and got an apprenticeship in one of the trades or started a business.  Those people all make 80K or more a year and have no college debt.  The kids who went to college and got advanced degrees struggle to make 60K and have 60K plus in college debt.  I'm not saying college is bad.  I have a Master's degree.  I don't think the answer to this dilemma is more taxes to pay for a failing University system.  Most educated Alaskans my age (early 30s) want to live in hip cities with culture and eclectic people not creepy, frumpy, crime-ridden, heroin-chic Anchorage or the claustrophobic isolated small town they grew up in.  For people who grew up outside, Alaska is an exotic adventure and that is why they come to work and stay. There is nothing UA can do to change this simple fact.