Research brief & institution hub

Maine Maritime Academy

MESmall public institution · Overall rank #238 nationally

Data snapshot September 27, 2026Updated October 21, 2026

Azimuth ranks Maine Maritime Academy #238 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Maine Maritime Academy is a public university in Castine, Maine, awarding degrees in Engineering, Transportation & Materials Moving, and Business. Return is among the highest we track.

Most graduates are estimated to go straight into work rather than on to further study, and the largest program is also the best-paid. Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them.

The model attributes more of that to a remainder it does not explain than to the factors it measures. Return is among the highest we track, and the earnings advantage is not just a function of the fields students choose.

Affordability is below the levels seen at many peers, and the net price sits above the median for comparable schools. Pell students complete within a fraction of a point of the overall rate.

The access picture is mixed: a low Pell share and a high net price sit alongside a completion gap that is nearly zero. The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and the degree mix is concentrated in engineering and transportation fields.

The largest programs are also the best-paid ones, and the earnings case is concentrated in a handful of technical majors.

Maine Maritime Academy at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate^[1]: 54.1%
Six-year completion^[2]: 58.2%
Four-year earnings^[3]: $113,298

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income^[6]: $21,162
Median student debt^[4]: $27,000
Median Parent PLUS debt^[7]: $55,812

Maine Maritime Academy rankings: how Azimuth assesses value^[5]

Maine Maritime Academy, a public university in Castine, Maine, enrolls 942 undergraduates. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the university sits well above the middle (84th percentile).

Admission at Maine Maritime Academy is tighter than at comparable institutions. The university accepts 54.1% of applicants, against a median of 83.4% for institutions of the same type and size.

Of first-year students starting full time, 81.7% return for a second year, which is above the 73.4% median at comparable institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 58.2%, exceeding the 43.5% median for comparable institutions.

An estimated 20.6% of all entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the graduation figure describes only those who began as full-time freshmen. The four sit far apart from one another.

Return is the strongest, affordability the weakest, and access and mobility fall between those two extremes. Mobility sits near the middle of the field, while access is closer to affordability than to return.

Azimuth assesses Maine Maritime Academy across four pillars. Return is the strongest, at the 99th percentile, while affordability is the weakest, at the 18th percentile.

Access sits at the 24th percentile and mobility at the 55th percentile. The profile is one of high earnings potential alongside a cost picture that is less favorable.

Pell Grants reach 24.6% of undergraduates at Maine Maritime Academy. Among enrolled students who submitted scores, the middle 50% of SAT results span 1,095 to 1,260; the ACT equivalent is 21 to 26.

For access, Azimuth places Maine Maritime Academy at #1,118 among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year rate for Pell recipients, 57.5%, trails the entering cohort as a whole (58.2%) by 0.7 percentage points.

For mobility, Azimuth ranks the university #662 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $34,080 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Maine Maritime Academy rankings in context
Geography	Rank
National	#238

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility: National percentile: 55

Access & reach: National percentile: 24

Affordability: National percentile: 18

Return on investment: National percentile: 99

Top-ranked majors

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering#1
Marine Transportation#6
International Business#20

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Maine Maritime Academy briefing

Maine Maritime Academy cost & financial aid^[6]^[7]

Maine Maritime Academy sets a published cost of attendance of $31,046, and the average aid recipient pays $23,414 after grants and scholarships are applied. In-state tuition and fees are $15,158, room and board are $12,282, and nonresident tuition and fees run $31,102.

The average net price is an average across aid recipients, not a personal quote. That is $10,592 above the $12,822 median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Aid covers about 25% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, offsetting the sticker price by $7,632. Azimuth ranks the university #1,158 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That is the 18th percentile for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at Maine Maritime Academy is $31,046. Azimuth ranks the university #1,158 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 average $9,511, those in the middle band ($48,001–$75,000) average $21,162, and those in the highest band (over $110,000) average $25,021. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $15,510.

Aid covers about 25% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The average net price across all aid recipients is $23,414, which is $10,592 above the $12,822 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $27,000 in federal student loans. That is $7,500 above the $19,500 median for comparable institutions.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $55,812 in Parent PLUS loans. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$21,162

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Maine Maritime Academy

Federal-loan borrowers who finish at Maine Maritime Academy carry a median of $27,000. That median sits $7,500 above the $19,500 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Parents who borrow through the Parent PLUS program hold a separate median of $55,812.

Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $113,298. That places Maine Maritime Academy at the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $34,080 more than the model expects for similar students, a result at the 99th percentile. The earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from a downside of $75,671 to an upside of $137,352, with a typical scenario of $113,298.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $27,000 in federal loans, $7,500 above the peer median. If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month.

For the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $55,812. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt: $27,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt: $55,812

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly: $307/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly: $709/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS

Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Maine Maritime Academy briefing

Maine Maritime Academy career outcomes & earnings^[3]^[8]^[9]

Four years after completion, federally aided completers at Maine Maritime Academy who are working and not enrolled show median earnings of $113,298, in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Against a peer median of $53,116 for comparable institutions (same type and size), the university's median is $60,182 above.

The return pillar is in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $34,080 more than the model expects for similar students.

That puts the gap at the 99th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $10,135.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $23,945. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $7,966.

Maine Maritime Academy posts a median of $113,298 four years after completion, drawn from an earnings cohort of 289 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That figure is $60,182 above the $53,116 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), and Azimuth places it in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $34,080 more than the model expects for similar students. The gap sits at the 99th percentile.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix put the typical figure at $113,298, with a downside scenario of $75,671 and an upside scenario of $137,352. An estimated 17.7% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Maine Maritime Academy posts a median of $113,298 four years after completion, at the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $53,116, so the gap runs $60,182 above that benchmark.

Azimuth ranks the university #19 for return. Graduates earn about $34,080 more than the model expects for similar students.

That puts the gap at the 99th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $10,135.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $23,945. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $7,966.

The program mix is concentrated in maritime and engineering fields. Estimated earnings scenarios, drawn from that mix, range from a downside of $75,671 to an upside of $137,352.

An estimated 17.7% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The earnings scenarios show a wide spread: from $75,671 on the downside to $137,352 on the upside. These are scenarios estimated from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

At the top of the range, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering graduates earn a median of $137,352 four years after completion. Marine Transportation follows at $103,417, and International Business at $77,641. The scenario range spans lower- and higher-earning program clusters.

Graduates of Maine Maritime Academy earn about $34,080 more than the model expects for similar students. The median federal student loan debt for borrowers who finish is $27,000, which is $7,500 above the median of $19,500 at comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month. Federal student debt excludes Parent PLUS and private loans.

For parents who borrow, the median Parent PLUS debt is $55,812. The published cost of attendance is $31,046, and aid covers about 25% of that amount for the average aid recipient.

The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $23,414.

What explains value-added earnings?

Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.: +$10,135
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.: +$23,945
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.: +$34,080

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Maine Maritime Academy briefing

Maine Maritime Academy acceptance rate & admissions^[1]^[10]^[11]

Maine Maritime Academy admits 54.1% of applicants, well below the median of 83.4% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range

Admission rate: 54.1%

Approximate lower endpoint: 1095
Reported average: 1166
Approximate upper endpoint: 1260

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Maine Maritime Academy briefing

What are the largest majors at Maine Maritime Academy?^[12]

Maine Maritime Academy is a focused institution where nearly all degrees come from three fields, and the earnings picture is unusually concentrated. Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering is both the largest program at 61 degrees awarded and the highest-earning, with a median of $137,352 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks it #1 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Marine Transportation is the second-largest program, awarding 49 degrees and posting median earnings of $103,417.

That figure sits below the national benchmark for the field, at 0.88x of the median. The third program with published earnings, International Business, is smaller at 23 degrees awarded and shows a median of $77,641, or 1.06x of the national field median.

The spread between the top-earning program and the more moderate-earning ones is wide, and the return picture depends heavily on which of the three a student chooses.

Engineering accounts for 44.7% of bachelor's degrees awarded, with Transportation & Materials Moving second at 30.4%. The university has 3 nationally ranked program.

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering is the largest single program, at 61 degrees a year. Azimuth ranks it #1 within its field, and its completers earn a median of $137,352 four years after completion.

International Business is smaller, at 23 degrees, and its completers earn $77,641 four years after completion.

Maine Maritime Academy awards bachelor's degrees across 3 program with an Azimuth national rank and 3 with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is concentrated in a few technical fields: Engineering accounts for 44.7% of degrees awarded, Transportation & Materials Moving for 30.4%, and Business for 14.3%.

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering is the largest single program, at 61 degrees awarded, followed by Marine Transportation at 49 and International Business at 23. Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering is also the highest-earning program.

Graduates earn a median of $137,352 four years after completion, a benchmark ratio of 1.20x against the national median for its field. Azimuth ranks it #1 in Maine within its field.

Marine Transportation graduates earn a median of $103,417, and International Business graduates earn $77,641. Across all fields, 58.1% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

The pattern is one of deep specialization. Strength is concentrated in a single program that is both the largest and the best-paid.

International Business sits slightly above the national median for its field, while Marine Transportation sits below.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering 61 degrees awarded: $137,352
Marine Transportation 49 degrees awarded: $103,417
International Business 23 degrees awarded: $77,641
Systems Engineering 11 degrees awarded: Too few graduates to report
Energy Systems Technologies/Technicians 11 degrees awarded: Too few graduates to report
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology 6 degrees awarded: Too few graduates to report

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Maine Maritime Academy briefing

What colleges are similar to Maine Maritime Academy?^[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Maine Maritime Academy.

Admissions peerNew Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology44.5% admitted

Comparison with Maine Maritime Academy
Measure	Maine Maritime Academy	New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years	$113,298	$85,232-$28,066 vs Maine Maritime Academy
Average annual net price	$23,414	$9,873-$13,541 vs Maine Maritime Academy · lower cost
Admission rate	54.1%	44.5%

Explore New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology →

Higher-admission alternativeMassachusetts Maritime Academy94.7% admitted

Comparison with Maine Maritime Academy
Measure	Maine Maritime Academy	Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years	$113,298	$103,680-$9,618 vs Maine Maritime Academy
Average annual net price	$23,414	$21,582-$1,832 vs Maine Maritime Academy · lower cost
Admission rate	54.1%	94.7%

Explore Massachusetts Maritime Academy →

Nearby alternativeSUNY Maritime CollegeNearby option · NY

Comparison with Maine Maritime Academy
Measure	Maine Maritime Academy	SUNY Maritime College
Peer earnings · 4 years	$113,298	$104,752-$8,546 vs Maine Maritime Academy
Average annual net price	$23,414	$22,367-$1,047 vs Maine Maritime Academy · lower cost
Admission rate	54.1%	72.4%

Explore SUNY Maritime College →

Lower-cost alternativeGeorgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus$12,116 average net price

Comparison with Maine Maritime Academy
Measure	Maine Maritime Academy	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Peer earnings · 4 years	$113,298	$119,180+$5,882 vs Maine Maritime Academy
Average annual net price	$23,414	$12,116-$11,298 vs Maine Maritime Academy · lower cost
Admission rate	54.1%	14.1%

Explore Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus →

Similar profileUnited States Merchant Marine AcademyMatched across several measures

Comparison with Maine Maritime Academy
Measure	Maine Maritime Academy	United States Merchant Marine Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years	$113,298	$92,950-$20,348 vs Maine Maritime Academy
Average annual net price	$23,414	$6,174-$17,240 vs Maine Maritime Academy · lower cost
Admission rate	54.1%	34.2%

Explore United States Merchant Marine Academy →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated September 27, 2026Governed hub narrative September 27, 2026Governed spoke corpus September 27, 2026

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.
Source fields: ADM_RATE
Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.
Source fields: C150_4
Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.
Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.
Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN
National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.
Source fields: Azimuth rankings
College Azimuth · Ranking methodology
Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.
Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV
Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.
Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations
College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology
Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.
Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios
College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology
Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
Source fields: Azimuth statistical model
College Azimuth · Value-added methodology
SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.
Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG
First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.
Source fields: RET_FT4
Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.
Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE
College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation
Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.
Source fields: PCTPELL
Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.
Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF
Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.
Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings