Licensing Rates for U.S. Maritime Academy Graduates Declining

Only Kings Point and Michigan boast 100 percent performance; overall licensing rate for state academies falls to 59 percent. Graduation and mariner licensing data released this summer by the U.S. Maritime Administration has revealed a worrisome trend at the nation's six maritime academies. According to spreadsheets provided by MARAD in 2007 and 2008, the cumulative licensing rate for maritime academy graduates has fallen to just 59 percent for this year's classes. Last year, that percentage was closer to 61 percent. The trend flies in the face of a critical worldwide shortage of qualified mariners and gives every indication that the problem will only get worse in the near term. Only two academies, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point and the Great Lakes Maritime Academy boast 100 percent of their graduates in a license track, with Texas A&M University at Galveston not far behind. Even with 13 more total graduates (856) in this calendar year, the total number of those choosing Coast Guard certification fell by 12 individuals. MARAD hopes to improve on those numbers, partly by increasing (effectively doubling) Student Incentive Payments (SIP) to cadets. That financial aid comes with caveats, however. Students in the SIP Program receive quarterly financial subsistence for a maximum of 4 years. In exchange for financial educational assistance the SIP students incur a national service obligation. Maritime Service compliance System (MSCS) track students participating in the SIP Program must then fulfill their national service obligation. The migration of curriculum at many of the maritime academies has occurred gradually over the years, partly as a way to survive in an era (now past, apparently) when ship billets were scarce and graduates found it increasingly difficult to go to sea for a living. As the need for mariners has once again ramped up, however, the corresponding migration back into license programs has not kept pace. Instead, shoreside programs such as stationary powerplant operations and industrial safety careers are gaining increasing popularity. Kings Point cadets (211 this year), of course, all earn a license, a degree and take a reserve commission in exchange for their four year education. Only months after graduation ceremonies were held on campuses across the nation, approximately 85 percent of 2008 graduates with merchant marine licenses from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and six state maritime academies have found employment afloat in the maritime industry or in the U.S. military, according to data released by the Maritime Administration today. "This data indicates that the job market for merchant marine officers remains robust. There is a growing, worldwide demand for fully-trained merchant marine officers and licensed mariners. Excellent training combined with ongoing global trade expansion will continue to make the graduates of U.S. maritime colleges among the most qualified and employable mariners in the world," said U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton The Maritime Administration operates the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and provides funding and training ships to Maine Maritime Academy, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Texas Maritime Academy, California Maritime Academy, Great Lakes Maritime Academy, and the State University of New York Maritime College. MarEx readers can view the breakdown of each of the state Academies by clicking HERE.


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