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APU’s Outdoor Studies programs prepare students for careers in outdoor recreation and education through expedition and classroom learning. By focusing on studies and skill-building related to land management, outdoor and environmental education, outdoor entrepreneurship, snow science, and other aspects of outdoor leadership, our graduates are prepared to serve an increasingly diverse outdoor constituency.  Students at APU are fortunate to have classes that take them into unequalled public lands including the Chugach National Forest and Alaska State Parks.

Undergraduate programs in Outdoor Studies include optional concentrations in: Land Management; Outdoor Education; Outdoor Entrepreneurship;  Snow Science; Wilderness Therapy;  or a self-designed option.  APU has articulation agreements for applicable coursework with National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).

At the graduate level, the Master of Science in Outdoor and Environmental Education (MSOEE) is based at the Kellogg Campus, home to the Spring Creek Farm, a working farm where students design and deliver outdoor and environmental education programs year-round, as well as the FIELD School, an environmental learning center for home-schooled students.

Outdoor Studies students at all levels are encouraged to fully develop their knowledge and skills in outdoor leadership by capitalizing on the social and natural opportunities unique to APU and Alaska.  From that experience, graduates model best outcomes to:

• Practice what has been learned in class on one’s own time
• Follow appropriate professional standards and behaviors
• Use a conservative approach in adventure pursuits
• Take small, incremental steps to improve skills
• Know one’s own strengths and weaknesses, and recognize the strengths and weaknesses of other group members
• Communicate with group members to achieve common understandings
• Be in appropriate physical condition for activities engaged in
• Understand and accept the risks of each activity

Return to: Undergraduate & Graduate Academic Degree Offerings