Education: A Survey Of Mariner Tuition Assistance Programs

One of the advantages of going directly into the maritime business instead of college is the ability to make a significant income without incurring student loans.

But even maritime training can be expensive. Long recognizing the value of the marine economy to the state, Louisiana’s Incumbent Worker Training Program has offered significant grant money to Louisiana boat companies to train their employees.

Louisiana also offers tuition assistance to individual mariners through a program called Rapid Response. Rapid Response pays half the tuition for Louisiana residents or mariners working for Louisiana-based companies. Other states offer similar programs.

Rapid Response is awarded to qualifying students whose tuition is not covered by other grants, but Delgado Community College Maritime and Industrial Training Center senior director Rick Schwab suggested that those students whose tuition is not paid by their company call the school to verify they are enrolled for the Rapid Response grant money to receive the discount.

Many mariners, especially those who live out of state, still find they have to pay for licensing classes themselves, mostly because they do not work for a Louisiana-based company that applied for and qualified for the state grants. These “self pay” mariners must pay full tuition and often also hotel costs to be located near training facilities for classes that can last as many as 15 days.

Two law firms are offering grants of up to $1,000 for students to take maritime licensing classes at a number of marine licensing facilities, including San Jacinto, Falck Safety, Martin International, Houston Marine and Delgado Community College. The Northstar Scholarship is offered by David Saltaformaggio of the Salta Law Firm, with $1,000 awarded at the beginning of each month. More information is available at www.northstarscholarship.com. The Marine Award Program for Seamen (MAPS) is offered by Tim Young of The Young Firm. A total of 18 grants of up to $1,000 each are awarded annually, with deadlines for applying on the 20th of January, March, May, July, September and December. Since 2013, this program has awarded more than $200,000 in grants to several training facilities. More information is available at www.marineaward.com.

Many mariners are not aware of these grant programs, however, so there have not been a lot of applicants. The attorney websites encourage mariners to re-apply if they do not receive a grant the first time they apply. The grants have to be awarded before the student takes a class, so mariners are encouraged to apply early. An awarded grant must be used within one year.

The law firms pay the grant directly to the training institution the mariner selects, not to the mariner directly. The grant pays the class tuition up to the $1,000. If the class costs less, the overage is lost.

A detailed discussion of these two grant programs can be accessed on the Delgado Community College website or that of any other participating training facility.

On the Delgado site—www.dcc.edu—click on “Workforce.” Scroll down to and click on “Maritime & Industrial Training Center.” A banner to the left offers “Reduced Tuition Opportunities.” Open it for links to the grants, including requirements and application forms.

Grants awarded by accessing the Delgado website can be used at any of the training centers listed for that grant, not just at Delgado.