The Maritime Administration is a division under the U.S. Department of Transportation. A major focus of the Maritime Administration is the education of competent mariners to ensure a well-trained fleet in times of peace and war. The Maritime Administration operates the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, which is one of the five U.S. service academies. It also provides training vessels and other types of support to six state maritime academies. These seven academies have four-year programs of study that lead to a Bachelor of Science degree, a Merchant Mariner Credential from the Coast Guard that is required for officers at sea, the rank of deck officer or engineer and, if desired, the commission as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Merchant Marine Reserve or Coast Guard Reserve. Although a four-year degree is not required for ferryboat captains, many do begin their careers with this degree.
The Maritime Administration recognizes and supports a number of state maritime academies. These maritime academies assure graduates licensure and of beginning their maritime careers as officers. The recognized state maritime academies are California Maritime Academy (csum.edu) at The California State University, Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Michigan (nmc.edu), Maine Maritime Academy (mainemaritime.edu), Massachusetts Maritime Academy, (maritime.edu), State University of New York Maritime Academy (sunymaritime.edu) and Texas Maritime Academy at Texas A&M University (tamug.edu).
The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is one of the country's five service academies, along with the academies for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is located in Kings Point, about 20 miles east of New York. It offers a four-year college experience culminating in a bachelor of science degree along with the same licensing, credentials and officer rank received by graduates of the recognized state academies supported by the Maritime Administration.
Ferryboat captains can also receive training at other schools that offer four-year, two-year and less than two-year programs. Schools with four-year programs include the Long Island University in Riverhead, NY (liunet.edu), Seattle Central Community College (seattlecentral.org), Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy in Virginia Beach, VA (mamatrains.com) and American Maritime Academy in Portsmouth, NH (americanmaritimeacademy.com). Schools that offer two-year or less than two-year programs are Northwestern Michigan College (nmc.edu), Clatsop Community College in Astoria, OR (clatsopcc.edu), College of Southern Idaho at Twin Falls (csi.edu), L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College in Houma, Louisiana (ftcc.edu), South Central Louisiana Technical College (reion3.ltc.edu), AVTC Alaska's Institute of Technology (avtec.edu) and the U.S. Maritime Academy in several states (usmaritime.us).