The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, or WICHE, is an organization that provides “seats” in other state colleges that offer the professional programs for students in member states. There are 15 states involved in WICHE. Alaska was the ninth state to join the organization in 1955.

Being a member of WICHE does not guarantee that a student can study any profession they choose. The Professional Student Exchange Program, or PSEP, supports 10 majors, dentistry, medicine, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, podiatry, and veterinary medicine.

In order for a student to be able to take part in the PSEP their state has to support the major that they wish to participate in. Alaska does not support medicine, osteopathic medicine, or veterinary medicine. In order for an Alaskan student to go to a school that offers these majors they must either pay out of state tuition or live in that state for one year to establish residency.

Richard Boone, the chair of the biology and wildlife department, said Alaska supported the veterinary medicine program until the early 1990s. He is trying to get Alaska to subscribe to the veterinary program again, especially since three new wildlife faculty members are veterinarians and he thinks it would be good if UAF students who wish to become veterinarians had the chance to.

In order for Alaska to support any of these programs the state legislature would have to agree to it. WICHE can be expensive for the state. The state pays the difference in the tuition that is charged for the students to attend schools outside the state. If the state decided that it would be in their best interest to support these programs, it would open doors for students studying here at UAF and all other UA universities.

An example of how it helps interested students get into Western state colleges that offer veterinarian schooling is through the acceptance statistics for the veterinarian program at Colorado State University. CSU accepted 2.6 percent of out of state or non- WICHE program students. That means that most of the students who got in were either Colorado residents or lived in a state that supports WICHE’s veterinary program.

Boone suggested that the state require veterinary students to return to Alaska for a certain amount of time after they have received their degree. That requirement would help Alaska retain veterinarians who have grown up in Alaska.