Photo: WBZ News Radio \ Kim Tunnicliffe
BOURNE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Massachusetts Maritime Academy was ranked first in the Northeast for the 2022 Best Bang for the Buck Colleges in a recent Washington Monthly report.
"I'm flattered, but it also comes as no surprise," Rear Admiral Francis McDonald, President of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy said when he found out about the high ranking.
McDonald told WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe that the academy prides itself on affordability, academics, and experiential learning. The academy incorporates hands-on learning for students as well as in-classroom learning through internships, co-ops, and leadership programs.
"100% of our students participate in experiential education, cooperative education, internships, built into the four-year program so they have two or three different industry experiences that they bring back to the classroom and build a resume and sharpen their technical skills," McDonald said.
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The academy gives out four million dollars a year in institutional need-based scholarships. The money is raised through fundraising and advancement efforts.
"As more and more people have focused on return on investment and there are studies out now about [if] college [is] worth it, the formula here has always paid off, it's about the education with the real skills to go to work," McDonald said.
The study ranked schools based off of graduation rate, Pell graduates, Pell/non-Pell graduation rate gap, actual vs. predicted Pell enrollment, the net price of attendance for families below $75 thousand yearly income, percentage of loan principal remaining after five years, and predicted principal remaining.
The study used social mobility, research, and community and national service in its methodology.
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe (KimWBZ) has more:
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