I was just on the website for Young Memorial in morgan city La.,and they are offering a limited amount of classes tuition free. I assume they have some grant money available. I have taken many classes there and the training is usually first rate, a best buy for the money,(especially free). 
This wont last for long, inquire at coastguardtraining.com
One grant they are using runs out at the end of this month, and the grant writer told me that it would not be renewed. 
However, for mariners who are employed by a Louisiana company, there is another grant avaiable under the Louisiana Recovery Act (LRA) that is still going. This grant can be used at either Young Memorial or L E Fletcher, and possibly Delgato in NO.
By the end of this month Iāll have taken five classes at Young Memorial that will have been covered by grants. The LRA grant also helped defray travel and housing expenses, at least it did earlier this summer.
You are right, Capt. Leigh, the training is good, and it is a great value.
You might also want to follow H.R. 2651, which is also known as the Maritime Workforce Development Act.
In a nutshell:
This bill is 2 parts from the little Iāve seen
Part 1 would provide low interest student loans for Maritime education.Up to $15,000/Yr, $60K Maximum total, 10 years to repay.
Part 2 would provide Federal Grant money available to Maritime Training facilities.
This bill is not yet scheduled for a vote,so we are still a ways off,but it will certainly be beneficial to the Mariner if it passes.
Thanks for posting the info on HR 2651. Iām close to being done with the classes I need (famous last words - hope the donāt bite me), but Iāll keep an eye on that one.
The grants have been most helpful. The LRA was left over from Hurricane Katrina, but Iām not sure about the other one, although it was a federal grant.
From what I understand, the LRA was originally set up to help out the unemployable. Turns out most of these people had records that would prevent them from getting marine jobs, so they relaxed the requirements. At first it was open for anyone, but last June they tightened it up so that only those working for an LA employer could apply.
Wish the government would put more money out for grants to help out the working folks, rather than helping out the bankers who put us in the current financial mess we are in.
I did my GMDSS at Young Memorial. It was a great value at $400.00!
A friend just finished GMDSS last week at one of the schools in New Orleans for $1700. $400 sounds better!
Yes, it was a several years ago but it is probably still lower than anywhere else. It is a community college so they have a cap, to some degree, on their tuition rates. I would highly recommend it. I did have to pay for a motel, however, but I shared the cost with a friend who also took the class.
If you havenāt checked out H.R.2651,you should.Go to washingtonwatch.com to see a copy of the bill,and cast your vote or leave a comment.There has not been a piece of legislation that will directly benefit Mariners as much as this one in recent memory. Itās time we all got proactive,instead of reactiveā¦
[I]āIf your only tool is a hammer,every problem looks like a nailā[/I]
Capt. Leigh: Intially it looks like the money would be restricted to one of the six state run maritime academies, althoug it does look like some other schools would be eligible. This is from the summary analysis of HR 2651:
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=4][LEFT]āprovide loans to students that enroll in one of the six state maritime academies or in another maritime training institution operated by a commercial and nonprofit organization.ā
I would definitely want to see schools such as Young Memorial or L E Fletcher included.
Time to contact my congressman and senators!
Thanks for keeping this in front of us.[/LEFT]
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After looking at the full version of the bill, it appears that only 50% of the funds would go towards the six state maritime academies.
It also states that prospective recipients would need to be qualified for the USCG license or document they are pursuing.
Looks like a very good bill to support.