Maritime academy would join Cal Poly under plan to save the struggling CSU program

Fading enrollment and rising costs have pushed the prestigious, nearly 100-year-old Cal Maritime Academy to the brink of a financial crisis — but the California State University has a plan to potentially revive it:

Fold the West Coast’s only maritime program into Cal Poly.

The CSU system on Wednesday announced a plan to integrate California State University Maritime Academy with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in an effort to “preserve Cal Maritime’s nearly 100-year history and reputation as a vital maritime institution.”

The program trains students — who are known as cadets and wear uniforms to class — in marine transportation, engineering and technology and includes an international summer at sea aboard the 500-foot Golden Bear.

The CSU Chancellor’s Office recommended the change to the CSU Board of Trustees, “explaining that bold and decisive action is necessary to address growing financial challenges and enrollment declines at Cal Maritime that have undermined its viability as a standalone institution,” a news release said Wednesday.

CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia on Wednesday said the plan was “an innovative and vitally necessary strategy with benefits that will be felt throughout the CSU, the state of California and our nation.”

“It provides a long-term solution to Cal Maritime’s untenable fiscal circumstances, preserves its licensure-granting academic programs so key to the maritime industry and our state’s and nation’s economy and security, and leverages academic and operational synergies between the two universities that will benefit California’s diverse students, families and communities for generations,” Garcia said in the release.

Cal Maritime has seen enrollment drop by 31% in the past seven years, the release said, going from approximately 1,100 students in 2016-17 to just over 750 in the current school year.

At the same time, it has also seen costs related to employment and its operations also rise — contributing to “Cal Maritime’s fiscal crisis.”

Nevertheless, the program ranks as having one of the best returns on investment in California, according to a recent analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle. It placed No. 5 in the state, two spots ahead of Cal Poly at No. 7, and had the top ROI of any public university in California. The top UC campus was Berkeley at No. 6.

The Vallejo university is one of six state maritime academies in the United States.

CSU administration noted that the challenges were not unique to Cal Maritime, and that the university has implemented and is considering other ways to reduce expenses and increase revenues over the next three years. But it noted, “Any further reductions to its budget risks compromising Cal Maritime’s critical infrastructure and unique academic mission.”

“Cal Maritime has been part of Vallejo’s rich history and a source of pride for eight decades,” Cal Maritime Interim President Michael Dumont said in the release. “Our students, faculty, staff and alumni have played an important role in the history of the state, the region and the nation. An integration with Cal Poly is an amazing opportunity to honor that legacy by preserving one of the nation’s premier maritime academies.”

Cal Poly president responds to plan to join universities

In a message sent to the campus community on Wednesday, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said the San Luis Obispo university was specifically chosen for this task “given the similarities and synergies in programming that it has with Cal Maritime, as well as the infrastructure in place at Cal Poly that can support Cal Maritime’s greatest areas of need.”

According to Armstrong, Cal Poly has both the administrative and marketing infrastructure needed to help Cal Maritime through its financial woes, as well as experience in fundraising and in increasing revenues.

Perhaps most importantly however, Cal Poly continues to see record-high demand from potential students — some 78,947 students applied for a spot at the university in the upcoming school year, the highest number of applicants in its history.

“While change can be challenging, it also provides new opportunities — and I am optimistic about this new partnership and confident in our collective future,” Armstrong wrote in the message to campus. ”This change would allow both institutions to more fully leverage their strengths and build upon their core similarities, including a shared basis in a hands-on, Learn by Doing education and academic programming rooted in world-class engineering and marine sciences.

“The integration of our institutions also presents us with the potential to compete for national security, renewable energy and other federal funding,” he added.

How would plan to integrate Cal Poly, Cal Maritime work?

So how would it work?

Under the plan, Cal Maritime would retain its maritime focus as part of Cal Poly, while its operations, resources and governance structure would be integrated with those of the San Luis Obispo, according to the CSU release.

Cal Maritime’s specialized degree programs — three of which lead to a Merchant Marine license issued by the U.S. Coast Guard — would continue to be offered at the Vallejo campus.

Most notably, this would mean Cal Maritime students would become “part of the Cal Poly student body and benefit from Cal Poly’s strong reputation as a comprehensive polytechnic institution and gain access to a broad range of academic facilities and student services,” the release said.

The plan would also not be a temporary fix.

According to an online FAQ published by the CSU alongside its announcement, this is intended as a permanent solution to Cal Maritime’s enrollment and financial challeges.

“The success of this integration will rely on the strengths that Cal Poly can bring to Cal Maritime, such as national recognition, strong academic programs, student advising and coursework and marketing and branding for strategic enrollment growth,” the FAQ said.

The change could also lead to a name change for Cal Maritime, though that has not yet been settled and is expected to be determined at a later date, according to the FAQ.

The CSU said it expects that short-term costs “to position both campuses for success” would be approximately $5 million annually for seven years.

What happens next?

The proposal is still just that: a proposal. To go into effect, it will require the approval of the CSU Board of Trustees during its November meeting.

The CSU also plans to hold informational sessions on the switch during its July and September meetings.

If approved, the integration would be completed by the start of the 2026-27 school year.