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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer

5 Ranked Colleges
493 Degrees Awarded
$18,900 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor's

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 550 people earned their degree in marine science/merchant marine officer, making the major the 532nd most popular in the United States.

At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 493 marine science/merchant marine officer graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in marine science/merchant marine officer. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent marine science/merchant marine officer programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the marine science/merchant marine officer program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The marine science/merchant marine officer school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s”.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer

#1

Northwestern Michigan College

Traverse City, Michigan
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern Michigan College landed the #1 spot on the list. Northwestern Michigan College is a public institution located in Traverse City, Michigan. The school has a small population, and it awarded 40 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

NMC also took the #4 spot in our “Best Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern Michigan College is $9,563 for bachelor’s degree marine science/merchant marine officer students.

Read more about Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer at NMC

#2

SUNY Maritime College

Throggs Neck, New York
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, SUNY Maritime College landed the #2 spot on the list. Throggs Neck, New York is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s marine science/merchant marine officer degrees to 110 students in 2019-2020.

SUNY Maritime College also made our “Best Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend SUNY Maritime College is $20,616 for Bachelor’s Degree Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer at SUNY Maritime College

#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University Maritime Academy. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s. Cal Maritime is a small school located in Vallejo, California that handed out 69 bachelors’s marine science/merchant marine officer degrees in 2019-2020.

Cal Maritime also took the #2 spot in our “Best Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Cal Maritime is $20,597 for bachelor’s degree marine science/merchant marine officer students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer at Cal Maritime

#4

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Massachusetts Maritime Academy. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s list. Massachusetts Maritime Academy is a public institution located in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. The school has a small population, and it awarded 67 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Maritime not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. It costs about $20,485 for bachelor’s degree marine science/merchant marine officer students per year to attend Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Massachusetts Maritime Academy Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Report

#5

Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, Maine
#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Maine Maritime Academy. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Schools for a Bachelor’s list. Maine Maritime Academy is located in Castine, Maine and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 30 bachelors’s marine science/merchant marine officer degrees to qualified students.

Maine Maritime did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for Maine Maritime is $23,239 for Bachelor’s Degree Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer students.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low student loan default rate of 2.1% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer at Maine Maritime Academy

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Notes and References

References

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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