Centers of Excellence Network for Maritime Training

In a recent gCaptain article I was reading about the Centers of Excellence Network for US maritime training. For anyone curious as to which 32 schools make up this network, this is what Chatgpt claims.

In Alaska.

  1. Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC) – Seward, AK.

  2. University of Alaska Fairbanks – Bristol Bay Campus, Dillingham, AK.

  3. University of Alaska Anchorage – Kodiak College, Kodiak, AK.

  4. University of Alaska Anchorage – Kenai Peninsula College (Kachemak Bay), Homer, AK.

  5. University of Alaska Anchorage – Prince William Sound College, Valdez, AK.

  6. University of Alaska Southeast – Ketchikan, AK.

In California.
7. Long Beach Community College – Long Beach, CA.
8. MiraCosta Community College – Oceanside, CA.
9. Orange Coast College – Newport Beach, CA.

In Florida.
10. STAR Center – Dania Beach, FL.
11. College of the Florida Keys – Key West, FL.

In Kentucky.
12. West Kentucky Community & Technical College – Paducah, KY.

In Louisiana.
13. Delgado Community College – New Orleans, LA.

In Maryland.
14. Anne Arundel Community College – Arnold, MD.
15. Calhoon MEBA Engineering School – Easton, MD.
16. Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies (MITAGS) – Linthicum Heights, MD.
17. Community College of Baltimore County – Baltimore, MD.
18. Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship – Piney Point, MD.

In Minnesota.
19. Lake Superior College – Duluth, MN.
20. St. Paul College – St. Paul, MN.
21. Minnesota State College Southeast – Winona, MN.

In Mississippi.
22. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – Perkinston, MS.
23. Hinds Community College – Raymond, MS.

In North Carolina.
24. Carteret Community College – Morehead City, NC.
25. Cape Fear Community College – Wilmington, NC.

In Oregon.
26. Clatsop Community College – Astoria, OR.
27. Portland Community College – Portland, OR.

In Pennsylvania.
28. Delaware County Community College – Media, PA.

In Rhode Island.
29. Community College of Rhode Island – Warwick, RI.

In South Carolina.
30. Trident Technical College – North Charleston, SC.

In Texas.
31. San Jacinto College District – Pasadena, TX.

In Virginia.
32. Hampton Roads Maritime Industries Education Alliance

  • Maritime Institute – Norfolk, VA.

  • Old Dominion University – Norfolk, VA.

  • Tidewater Community College (three campuses: Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, VA)

Those look like the current COEs. MARAD is soliciting applications for new COEs.

Yes, that was my understanding as well. I just posted the current maritime Centers of Excellence because I found it interesting & didn’t know the collaboration exsited. When I did a forum search with the words, “centers of excellence” nothing meaningful popped up. Now it will. I’m anxious to see which & if any schools get added to the list.

Surprised that NYC’s CUNY Kingbridge Maritime Community College program is not part of this.

This is Mid-Atlantic maritime’s new name (maybe new ownership too). You may recall their office manager selling certificates to his homies a few years back.

New ownership. The old name/ownership were previously a COE.

They used to be. See link above.

I’m surprised a lot of organizations names aren’t on the list. If I owned a maritime training school or managed a maritime training school I’d be all over this. Same for any community college or large company that had in house training. I’d try to get my organizations name on the list to hopefully get grants or tax breaks down the road?

Very very few of those businesses should have excellence associated with their names. They should also not be consulted when it comes to policy guidance on training mariners. They have a vested interest in keeping required antiquated useless classes. Remember these are the people that lobbied hard to keep us renewing our radar cert for years and years.

I’m surprised MPT is not on the list.

Texas A&M University at Galveston, Texas is not listed. Hmmm . . .