Maritime Studies

Types of Degrees Maritime Studies Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many maritime studies graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	37
Master’s Degree	9
Basic Certificate	4

What Maritime Studies Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to maritime studies were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Maritime Studies Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in maritime studies should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Skills for Maritime Studies Majors

A major in maritime studies prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Maritime Studies Majors

A major in maritime studies will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Maritime Studies Major?

People with a maritime studies degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Historians	6.1%	$61,140
Professors	9.4%	$65,660

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Maritime Studies?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 37 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in maritime studies in 2021, making it rank #311 in popularity. According to recent stats this major attracts about equal numbers of men and women. Roughly 51% of the graduates are women, and 49% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of maritime studies majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	7
White	26
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

How Much Do Maritime Studies Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Maritime Studies majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $66,380 to $76,990 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Maritime Studies

Some careers associated with maritime studies require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to maritime studies have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	9.0%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	15.2%
Some College Courses	18.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	20.4%
Master’s Degree	23.9%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	3.7%

Online Maritime Studies Programs

In 2020-2021, 6 schools offered a maritime studies program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	3	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Maritime Studies Worth It?

The median salary for a maritime studies grad is $66,380 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 66% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $529,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Maritime Studies

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to maritime studies.

Major	Number of Grads
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	34,975
Biological & Physical Science	30,075
Interdisciplinary Studies	9,074
International Studies	7,368
Nutrition Science	5,330
Behavioral Science	4,169
Sustainability Science	3,005
Cognitive Science	2,776
Natural Sciences	2,214
Human Biology	1,939
Human Computer Interaction	1,857
Computational Science	1,360
Data Analytics	1,338
Mathematics & Computer Science	1,302
Gerontology	1,234
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution	1,175
Science, Technology & Society	1,095
Systems Theory	884
Museum Studies	816
Dispute Resolution	648
Data Science	541
Multicultural & Diversity Studies	482
Historic Preservation	416
Cultural Studies & Analysis	405
Marine Science	334
Classical & Ancient Studies	275
Biopsychology	183
Medieval Studies	104
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics	97
History and Political Science	66
Holocaust Studies	66
Accounting & Computer Science	48
Earth Systems Science	44
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature	42
Geography and Environmental Studies	40
Environmental Geosciences	20
Anthrozoology	13
Digital Humanities and Textual Studies	12
Mathematical Economics	10
Linguistics and Computer Science	6
Linguistics and Anthropology	4
Economics and Computer Science	2
Thanatology	0
History and Language/Literature	0

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Whit Welles under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.