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Major · Engineering

Designing the ships that move America's Maritime Industrial Base

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering blends fluid dynamics, structural analysis, and propulsion design to build vessels that survive saltwater for decades. Roughly 368 students complete this bachelor's-level major each year across 11 specialized programs — many of them at federal service academies and state maritime academies, where placement into shipyards, classification societies, and Navy civilian engineering offices is built into the curriculum.

Schools offering
11
Annual completions
368
Typical degree level
Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$108k

About this major

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (CIP 14.2201) trains students to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the design, development, and operational evaluation of vessels — self-propelled, stationary, or towed — operating on or under the water. The coursework spans ship hydrodynamics and resistance, hull structural analysis, propulsion systems, marine power plants, vessel stability, corrosion, and the safety and environmental constraints unique to operating large machines in saltwater for decades. Most programs are ABET-accredited and culminate in a capstone vessel design built to real classification-society rules.

The major rewards students who like ambiguous, multi-system problems where fluids, structures, and propulsion all interact at once. Strong analytical and CAD fluency helps, but so does an interest in the physical artifacts themselves — students who enjoy walking shipyards and reading drawings tend to thrive more than those who prefer pure software work. Most graduates head into Marine Engineers and Naval Architects roles (SOC 17-2121, median $105,670) or into Architectural and Engineering Manager paths over time (SOC 11-9041, median $167,740).

The scale tells you a lot: just 368 bachelor's completions a year across 11 institutions, with the top five — USMMA, Maine Maritime, Mass Maritime, USNA, and Webb Institute — accounting for 292 of those graduates. That concentration is unusual in engineering and reflects how tightly the major is tied to federal service academies, state maritime academies, and a handful of research universities like Michigan and Stevens.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Architectural and engineering managers $168k +3.8% Bachelor's degree
Engineering teachers, postsecondary $106k +8.1% Doctoral or professional degree
Marine engineers and naval architects $106k +5.8% Bachelor's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$108k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you find ship design and the physics of moving large objects through water genuinely interesting on its own terms, if you're comfortable with multi-system engineering problems where fluids, structures, propulsion, and electrical systems all interact, if you're drawn to the federal service academy or state maritime academy model where placement into Navy or shipyard roles is built into the program, if you're a US citizen and open to the security clearances most government and shipyard roles require, and if geographic flexibility toward maritime hubs like Norfolk, Newport News, Groton, Bath, or San Diego sounds energizing rather than limiting.

Think twice if you want a generalist engineering degree with broad geographic flexibility — at 368 annual completions versus 33,431 for mechanical engineering, this is a deliberate specialization, and most jobs are concentrated near shipyards or Navy installations. Reconsider if you're not a US citizen, since clearance-restricted roles dominate the entry-level market. The job-growth signal for SOC 17-2121 is moderate (5.8%), so the case for this major rests less on raw labor-market expansion and more on the current Maritime Industrial Base buildup and the strong placement track record at the top programs — if you're not landing at one of those, the path is steeper.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, NY 0 91 91
Maine Maritime Academy Castine, ME 0 71 71
Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buzzards Bay, MA 0 69 69
United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD 0 36 36
Webb Institute Glen Cove, NY 0 25 25
SUNY Maritime College Throggs Neck, NY 0 24 24
United States Coast Guard Academy New London, CT 0 23 23
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 0 19 19
University of New Orleans New Orleans, LA 0 10 10
Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ 0 0 0
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Mechanical Engineering

33,431 completions/yr

Electrical and Electronics Engineering

14,891 completions/yr

Civil Engineering, General

13,488 completions/yr

Computer Engineering, General

9,312 completions/yr

Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

8,569 completions/yr

Chemical Engineering

7,914 completions/yr

Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, General

6,386 completions/yr

Engineering, General

5,416 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering majors actually study day-to-day?
The coursework sits at the intersection of mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering, with a maritime specialization layered on top. Expect ship hydrodynamics and resistance, hull structural analysis, propulsion systems, marine power plants, and vessel stability — alongside the standard ABET engineering core of calculus, thermodynamics, fluids, and materials. Most programs include a senior capstone where teams design a complete vessel to real classification-society rules.
Do I need a bachelor's, or is an associate's enough?
All 368 completions in the most recent year were at the bachelor's level — there is effectively no associate's pathway into Marine Engineers and Naval Architects (SOC 17-2121), which BLS lists as requiring a bachelor's degree. The four-year ABET-accredited route is the standard credential for design roles at shipyards, the Navy, and classification societies like ABS, DNV, and Lloyd's Register.
What kinds of jobs do graduates end up in?
The dominant destination is Marine Engineers and Naval Architects (SOC 17-2121), with a median wage of $105,670. Graduates fan out into Navy civilian engineering at NAVSEA and Naval Reactors, private shipyards (Newport News Huntington Ingalls, Electric Boat General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works, NASSCO, Austal USA), classification societies (ABS, DNV, Lloyd's Register), and naval-architecture consultancies (Glosten, Gibbs & Cox, BMT, JJMA). Offshore-wind installation vessel programs are also actively hiring.
How competitive is the job market for this major?
Placement at top programs is unusually strong — the federal service academies (USMMA, USNA, USCGA) and state maritime academies graduate roughly 314 of the 368 yearly completers and feed directly into Navy, USCG, shipyard, and merchant marine pipelines. The Maritime Industrial Base buildup tied to Columbia-class submarines, Constellation-class frigates, and Virginia-class submarines has driven a multi-year shipyard hiring expansion. The trade-off: many roles require US citizenship and a security clearance.
How does this compare to mechanical or aerospace engineering?
Mechanical engineering graduates 33,431 students annually and aerospace 6,386 — naval architecture, at 368, is roughly 1% of mechanical's volume. The upside of that scarcity is concentrated employer demand: the Navy and shipyards specifically seek the maritime specialization, which is hard to substitute with a generic mechanical engineering degree once you're past entry-level. The downside is geographic concentration — most jobs are clustered around Norfolk, Newport News, Groton, Bath, Pascagoula, and San Diego.
What's a common next step after this degree?
The typical first step is a design or project engineering role at a shipyard, classification society, or Navy civilian engineering office, often through a structured rotational program. From there, paths split: stay technical and progress toward Senior Naval Architect or Lead Marine Engineer; move into project management; or pursue a Professional Engineer (PE) license and shift toward consulting. Some graduates of USMMA and the maritime academies also sail as licensed engineering officers under a USCG Merchant Mariner Credential.