I was playing around on google looking into the Maritime Industry and came across a degree from Maine Maritime called The Masters and Commanders Degree. It is a Masters degree for those who already have a Bachelors degree and also leads to a USCG 200 Ton License.
Did anyone ever attempt/finish this degree? Is it worth it?
200 ton? I don’t see the point, but “master and Commander” is good branding and marketing BS.
What the academies need is a six month graduate certificate program for people with a B.A. and Master 500 to upgrade to 3rd Mate unlimited. They’ll never do that because that programs graduates might compete in the job market with their regular deck grads.
The other thing the academies need is a one year graduate program for unemployed deck officers to become 3rd AEs. If Star Center can take green high school grads and turn them into 3rd AE in two years, than an academy ought to be able to take a deck officer with a B.A. and turn him into a 3rd AE in one year. Hell, maybe Star Center ought to start such a program.
I also see SUNY Maritime has a masters program that also leads to a 3rd mate license. I was really trying to avoid regiment though…
I would take a hard look at SUNY Maritime. As a grad student the regiment is not bad at all. You are a Day Student and able to live off campus if you wish or in dormitories. The regiment requires you to wear a uniform between 7-4 on campus or when attending any class. You have to go through a mini boot camp indoctrination with anyone else entering the regiment of cadets. You can, and probably will at some point if youre incredibly lazy, earn some sort of demerits that require you to do some extra work on the ship.
You generally do not need to attend any kind of extra activity unless it pertains to cruise Also, all three of your cruises your Day Student status will dissapear and you will be the same as your fellow indoctrination graduates. You learn the fundamentals of seamanship and do some menial labor.
In the end, you graduate with a 3rd Mate unlimited, an MS, a high starting salary, and a great alumni network. You might not find a job sailing right away, but you will have many opportunities afloat and ashore, and it will be well worth it. I don’t know any grauduates of the license program that regret it. However, there are plenty of people that didn’t go to the school or washed out of the program that are quick to criticize it and find fault, including on this forum. Learn everything you can about the industry before making your decision. Good luck.
It’s really NOT that big of a deal… I finished the program myself and thought it was pretty relaxed, even with all the BS.
*The SUNY MS/Grad License program, that is…
Just another piece of paper that is worthless without experience…
The program is marketed towards people that want to sail tall ships since MMA has the auxiliary sail program. A 200 ton NC aux sail license is plenty for almost any tall ship in the US fleet.
Interesting. I emailed them about the length of the program but no one responded. Is it 2 years or 4??
For SUNY MS that is
More and more those worthless pieces of paper are worth more than experience.
I finished in exactly three years, doing each of the three cruises in order. HOWEVER… if you enter in a fall semester and can knock out the license courses for 3/c and 2/c cruise before the summer cruise you can do a 90 day cruise to start (combining the two) and then doing only 2 cruises, which finishes the program for you in 2 years.
Admittedly I know very little about the inner workings at SUNY. Browsing through their website with regards to their graduate + license program it says it is a 96 credit program which breaks down as a 34-credit master’s degree as well as a U.S. Coast Guard third mate license. The license includes 62 credits at the undergraduate level. @ShooterMcGavin thinks it could be done in as little as 2 years if the stars align but realistically 3 years (or better) is more likely the case. But again I have never been there, just saying looking at their website.
For most it’s between 2 1/2 - 3 years. You can do it by combining your first and second cruises like @ShooterMcGavin says. There is a benefit to taking your third semester off to cadet ship on a commercial vessel, which a lot of people do. It really depends on how much time you want to invest in order to get it done.
With the workload I was most comfortable with and the cruises in order (and one at a time) it was three years on the dot. Some guys crammed and jammed, which was not my thing.
For what it is worth most of the guys in the tech program aren’t 18 year olds out of high school, all of the ones I’ve met have had 4 year degrees before starting.