Ketchikan has job potential. Alaska had 21 years of job gains up until 2009. After a year without, Alaska added 1,800 jobs in 2010 and 5,200 in 2011, according to the Alaska Department of Labor.

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Former Ketchikan resident Mike Thomas, 47, died Dec. 20, 2011, in Mohave, Ariz. He was born in Salem, Ore., on Nov. 25, 1964, but was raised in Ketchikan.

Alaska's governor and Legislature took steps to protect our future Thursday, and the state's students are glad they did.

Across the country, as we read in Associated Press reports Wednesday, many, many college students are forgoing their expensive private schools in favor of lower cost state schools. That's great.

But for most families, even "cheaper" schools aren't cheap. We recall some years ago a conversation with the mother of two sons, the first of whom was in college. She had known college was expensive - who doesn't? - but she hadn't realized how expensive. She likened tuition to a second house payment.

Few families have enough extra each month to support that sort of education habit, a habit we nevertheless encourage. But luckily, student loans are available, and in particular, loans from the Alaska Student Loan Corp. The loans are not just for University of Alaska education, and not just for college; they can also cover postsecondary training programs.

More than 8,100 Alaska students received money through AlaskaAdvantage Stafford loans and AlaskaAdvantage Supplemental loans to cover their post-high-school education.

However, remember what happened to the 401(k)s of those lucky enough to have them when the economy crashed? Well, what the governor's office aptly characterized as the "catastrophic capital market" made it impossible for the student loan corporation to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds.

That would have meant no Alaska student loans, which would have been the end of college or postsecondary training for many.

However, the governor and Legislature, through House Bill 172, made it possible for the state revenue commissioner to provide a bridge loan and directly invest in the education loan program of the student loan corporation. HB172, signed into law Wednesday, also helps the student loan corporation issue bonds through a "credit enhancement facility," without which issuing the bonds would be impossible.

Through all the financial jargon, what this means is that Alaska student loans will be issued this fall, and Alaska students will continue to be able to rely on the Alaska Student Loan Corp. to help them invest in their future.

Their future is our future. The governor, with the agreement and full support of the Legislature, stepped up to the plate, and we applaud their action, working together to complete a task vital to Alaskans.