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Marine Transportation at California State University Maritime Academy

Vallejo, CA · Public · Bachelor's Degree
74 /100
DegreeWorth Score (Base Case)
75
Optimistic
74
Base Case
73
Pessimistic
Earnings $87,464/yr (6% vs median)
AI Risk Low (13% exposed)
Job Market Small (6,100 openings/yr)

How AI Changes the Outlook

Three scenarios based on how aggressively AI disrupts the career paths available to Marine Transportation graduates.

Optimistic
No Disruption		 Base Case
Gradual AI		 Pessimistic
Aggressive AI
10-Year Earnings $1,238K $1,003K $830K
Earnings Multiple (In-State) 40.3x 32.7x 27.1x
Earnings Multiple (Out-of-State) 15.8x 12.8x 10.6x
Viable Career Paths 4 of 4 4 of 4 4 of 4
DegreeWorth Score 75 74 73

10-Year Earnings Projection

*Year 1 uses actual reported earnings. Scenarios diverge as AI impact compounds over time.

4-Year Tuition (In-State)
$30,688
Out-of-state: $78,208
Median Debt at Graduation
$26,000
3.6 months of Year 1 earnings
Reported Earnings (5 Year)
$116,871
34% growth from Year 1

Career Paths

Where Marine Transportation graduates typically work. Raw data — no blending. The scenarios above model how these factors interact. This field has roughly 6,100 combined openings per year.

Career Path Wage Openings/yr Growth AI Risk
Ship engineers $101,320 1,100 +1.6% 17%
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels $85,540 4,300 +0.5% 26%
Commercial divers $61,130 400 +8.5% 7%
Motorboat operators $51,880 300 +1.4% 0%

Compare & Explore

Marine Transportation at Other Schools

Texas A & M University-College Station ($87,444) Northwestern Michigan College ($87,281) Massachusetts Maritime Academy ($84,187) Maine Maritime Academy ($82,725) SUNY Maritime College ($79,797) United States Merchant Marine Academy ($69,847)

Other Majors at California State University Maritime Academy

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians ($98,661) Mechanical Engineering ($92,315) Business Administration, Management and Operations ($57,265) International Relations and National Security Studies ($42,924)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DegreeWorth Score for Marine Transportation at California State University Maritime Academy?
This program scores 74/100 in the Base Case scenario, factoring in earnings, AI disruption risk, job market size, and earnings multiple. The score ranges from 75 (optimistic) to 73 (pessimistic) depending on AI's impact.
How does AI affect Marine Transportation career prospects?
We model three scenarios: Optimistic (no disruption), Base Case (gradual AI adoption), and Pessimistic (aggressive AI displacement). In the base case, Marine Transportation graduates retain 4 of 4 viable career paths. 10-year earnings range from $830,184 (pessimistic) to $1,238,245 (optimistic).
How many job openings are there for Marine Transportation graduates?
The career paths mapped to Marine Transportation have roughly 6,100 combined job openings per year nationally, making this a small job market.
Is Marine Transportation at California State University Maritime Academy worth it?
In the Base Case, this degree earns 32.7x its in-state tuition over 10 years. Even in the Pessimistic scenario, the multiple is 27.1x. The spread between scenarios tells you how sensitive this degree is to AI disruption.
Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024-2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Scenarios use a continuous weighting function combining AI exposure and BLS job growth projections. "Earnings Multiple" is total 10-year projected earnings divided by tuition — not a discounted financial ROI. Last updated 2025.