to the Final Report

APPENDIX 4

U.S. OCEAN-RELATED

ACADEMIC INFRASTRUCTURE
You may electronically download this document from:

http://www.oceancommission.gov

This document may be cited as follows: 

U.S. Ocean-Related Academic Infrastructure

Appendix 4 to An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century

Final Report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy

Washington, D.C., 2004

ISBN#0–9759462–5–0
Table of Contents Page Number

Executive Summary i-vi 

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

Chapter 2: Methodology for the Study 4

Chapter 3: Research Funding and Personnel 7

Chapter 4: Facilities and Vessels 14

Chapter 5: Graduate Programs 17

Chapter 6: Undergraduate Programs 

at Four-Year Colleges and Universities

29

Chapter 7: Undergraduate Programs

 at Two-Year Colleges

33

Chapter 8: Faculty and Postdoctorates 37

Chapter 9: Conclusions 41

Appendix A 

Institutions and Programs Surveyed in study

43

Appendix B

Copy of Each Survey

53

Appendix C

Additional Tables and Graphs

75
Index of Tables and Graphs Page

Summary of Response Rates by Survey Type and Program or Institution Table 2-1 6

Research Funding and Personnel

Sources of Research Support during 2001-2002 Figure 3-1 8

Federal Support of Ocean-related Research 2001-2002 Figure 3-2 8

People supported by Research Funding during 2001-2002 Figure 3-3 9

Summary of the Differences Between AY1997 and AY2002, Federal Agency Funding at Ten Selected Ocean

Sciences Programs Table 3-1 11

Facilities and Vessels

Non-UNOLS Vessels & Facilities Figure 4-1 14

Non-UNOLS Vessels and Facilities in the Academic Ocean Sciences Community as of May 2002

 Table 4-1 15

Ownership of Facilities at Ocean-related Academic Programs as of May 2002 

Graduate Programs

Summary of Acceptance Rates at 58 Graduate Programs in the United States Table 5-1 17

First-year Enrollments in Ocean-related Graduate Programs, Fall 2001 Figure 5-1 18

First-year Enrollments by Gender and Field, Fall 2001 Figure 5-2 18

Ethnicity/Race of U.S. Citizens Enrolled in Ocean-related Graduate Programs for the First time during Fall 2001

Table 5-2 19

Graduate Students in Residence in Ocean-related Programs, Fall 2001 Figure 5-3 19

Gender and Field of Graduate Students in Residence, Fall 2001 Figure 5-4 20

Ethnicity/Race of U.S. Citizens in Residence in Ocean-related Graduate Programs during Fall 2001

Table 5-3 21

Comparison of Graduate Student Support among Several Scientific Fields Table 5-4 22

Ocean-related Masters Degrees Awarded Figure 5-5 23

Masters Degrees Awarded by Gender and Field Figure 5-6

Ocean-related Doctoral Degrees Awarded, July 2000-June 2001 Figure 5-7

Doctoral Degrees Awarded by Gender and Field, July 2000-June 2001 Figure 5-8 26

Ethnicity/Race of the Doctorates Awarded between July 2000 & June 2001 Table 5-5 26

Where Did Graduates go After Degree was Awarded? Table 5-6 27

Undergraduate Programs at Four-year Colleges and Universities

Ocean-related Baccalaureate Degrees Awarded, July 2000-June 2001 Figure 6-1 30

Gender of Bachelors Degree Recipients, July 2000-June 2001 Figure 6-2 31

Post-college activity of 1116 Bachelor Degree Recipients between July 2000 & June 2001 Table 6-1 32

Undergraduate Programs at Two-year Colleges

Ocean-related Degrees Awarded at Two-year Colleges, July 2000-June 2001 Figure 7-1 33

Gender Distribution of Associates Degrees and Certificates, July 2000-June 2001 Figure 7-2 34 

Post-graduation Plans of Community College Students Table 7-1 35

Number and Percent of Marine and Aquatic Programs in IPEDS Table 7-2 

Faculty and Post Doctorates

Faculty at Four-year Colleges and Graduate Programs May 2002 Figure 8-1 37

Summary of the Distribution of Faculty among Types of Programs Surveyed for Our Study Table 8-1 38

Faculty of Two-year Programs, May 2002 Figure 8-2 39
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The Oceans Act of 2000 was enacted on August 2000, establishing the Commission on 

Ocean Policy and calling for a report to Congress with recommendations for a

comprehensive U.S. ocean policy. Among the required elements of the report is an 

“assessment of existing and planned facilities associated with ocean and coastal 

activities including human resources, vessels, computers, satellites, and other 

appropriate platforms and technologies.” Central to this infrastructure assessment is an

evaluation of the U.S. investment in academic ocean sciences research and education. 

This report has been prepared to address this assessment requirement. 

The academic ocean sciences community in the United States is exceptionally broad, 

diverse and diffuse. The ocean sciences are interdisciplinary in nature and encompass 

the natural science fields of biology, chemistry, physics and geology; ocean and coastal 

engineering; and marine policy. Students of the ocean sciences can be found in 

technical and two-year colleges, military academies, and universities in either

undergraduate or graduate programs. Identifying these students and the institutional

resources used to educate them is critical to understanding the current state of the 

ocean sciences community in this country and to identifying areas where additional 

efforts may be required to ensure a robust ocean sciences endeavor in the future. 

Academic Research Funding 

The 79 academic programs surveyed in the study received total research support of 

$932 million during academic year 2001-2002 (AY 2002). The federal government was 

the predominant funding source, providing $598 million or about 64% of all the funds

received. No other source of financial support exceeded 10% of the total. Non-federal 

funding sources included internal institutional support, states, private foundations, and 

private corporations. 

The National Science Foundation, (NSF) was the largest federal funding source in 

AY2002, providing about $214 million or more than a third of the total federal agency 

funding for the ocean sciences. This amount was equal to the combined investment of 

the two next largest agency funding sources, the U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Navy and NOAA each contributed about $107 

million or 18% of the federal academic ocean sciences budget. Five other agencies or 

departments individually provided less than 8% of the total federal support. Their 

ocean sciences budgets were as follows: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA) $49 million; Department of the Interior $27 million; Department of Energy $12 

million; Environmental Protection Agency $14 million. The total federal contribution 

from agencies other than those listed accounted for about $65 million of the research 

support for the surveyed institutions. 

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The research funding available in AY2002 to institutions surveyed supported a 

workforce of 7901 people. Thirty percent of that total was composed of graduate 

students. Research staff, technicians, and other non-technical staff together made up 

almost half (45%) of the remaining personnel supported by research funds. Professors 

constituted about 18% and postdoctoral researchers were reported as the smallest 

component (6%). 

A subset of 10 institutions, the original members of the Joint Oceanographic 

Institutions, was selected to look at changes in funding levels over time. These 

selected programs are among the most comprehensive and best documented in the

nation. However, survey data from each of the ten selected programs exist only for the 

academic year 1996-1997 (AY1997) and AY2002. Analysis of the AY1997 and AY2002 

data provides a snapshot of the research support received by the academic ocean 

sciences community during these two school years. 

The total amount of funding spent on research at the selected programs has increased 

from $398.8 million in AY1997 to $439.4 million in AY2002 (+10.2%). The federal 

government remains the largest source of funding for academic ocean science at the 

selected programs, but it is declining in importance. State and local funding of ocean 

research at the 10 selected programs has declined from 9.5% in AY1997 to 5.1% in 

AY2002. However, these programs’ research budgets have increased in the face of 

overall declines in total federal, state and private funding. 

This change raises the question of where institutions look to replace decreasing support 

from traditional sources. The data collected by this study may suggest answers. For

example, while NSF was the only funding source to show a substantial increase, 

research dollars that could not be attributed to a traditional category grew from less 

than $1 million in AY1997 to almost $88 million in AY2002. 

Looking more closely at the raw data in this “other research support” category suggests 

a number of reasons for this: (1) the responding institution could not provide enough

information to classify funding under a better-defined category or the corresponding 

category was not available in the 1997 survey (e.g. “Other Department of Interior”); (2) 

the research support came from less traditional funding sources including foreign 

governments, international organizations, and quasi-governmental entities like local 

port authorities; (3) more institutions appear to be participating in consortia or pooling 

their funding from federal, state and private sources, making it impossible to assign the 

resources to a single category. Obvious examples of such arrangements are the 

National Oceanographic Partnership Program and the National Sea Grant College 

Program. 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Facilities at U.S. Academic Institutions

As part of the funding and facilities survey, an assessment was conducted of the 

current availability, age, and type of facilities and vessels housed at academic 

institutions that support ocean and coastal research. 

Not surprisingly, the largest category of facilities reported was research vessels over 25 

feet. Although research vessels under 25 feet almost certainly were undercounted, this 

category was the second largest followed by buildings and laboratories, underwater 

vehicles, general instruments, and supercomputers respectively. Very few institutions 

have replacement plans for their facilities, and a number of programs noted that lack of 

available funds was the primary factor preventing planning. 

U.S. Graduate Programs

Institutions surveyed received a relatively constant number of applications to 58 marine 

graduate programs offered in 2001 and 2002 (approximately 4000 per year). One-third 

of the applicants were admitted. The total number of graduate students in residence 

during Fall 2001 at 60 different programs was 3255. Thirty-six percent of these 

students were in a marine biology or biological oceanography program. Aquaculture 

and fishery sciences made up the next largest segment of this population (12%). The 

number of students in chemical oceanography, physical oceanography, marine geology

and geophysics, and ocean engineering programs were about equal (between 9% and 

10% each). Marine policy, coastal and estuarine studies, and “other” fields made up 

the remainder of the student population in residence during Fall 2001. The majority of 

students in the category entitled “other” were identified as studying “atmospheric and 

ocean sciences”. 

The overall gender distribution of graduate students in residence consisted of 53% men 

and 47% women. However, intra-field comparisons show that women dominated 

marine biology and biological oceanography and made up about half the students in 

chemical oceanography and marine chemistry and in marine geology and geophysics. 

Men were the majority in ocean engineering and physical oceanography. Twenty-three 

percent of students in residence as of Fall 2001 were foreign citizens. Eighty-eight 

percent of the U.S. citizens in residence were reported to be “white”. 

On the issue of support for graduate students in residence, the majority (56%) during 

Fall 2001 were supported by research assistantships. In contrast, traineeships made of 

up the lowest percentage of reported student support (1%). Ten percent of the 

students in residence had teaching assistantships; 13% had fellowships; 8% received 

support from some other source; and 12% received no financial support. This aspect of 

the graduate student experience is important, since the type of support a student 

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receives in graduate school influences the development of research, teaching and 

management skill sets. Such opportunities can limit or expand a student’s awareness of 

different career paths and job sectors open to them. 

With regard to degrees awarded, a total of 737 students received a masters or doctoral 

degree between July 2000 and June 2001. After graduation, 25% of the degree 

recipients were employed at a four-year college, university or a university-affiliated 

research center. Doctorate recipients comprised most of that 25% (127 doctoral 

degree recipients compared to 59 masters degree recipients). On the other hand, a 

higher percentage of masters recipients were employed by a federal agency or private 

(for-profit) organization (133 masters degree recipients compared to 61 doctoral degree 

recipients). Unfortunately, approximately 26% of the programs surveyed could not 

report the initial employment of their recent graduates. 

The largest number of master and doctoral degrees were awarded in marine biology or 

biological oceanography and the distribution of degrees in other fields can be found in

Chapter 5. The gender and racial distributions of degree recipients was similar to ratios 

seen among graduates in residence.

Undergraduate Programs at Two-year and Four-year College and Universities

Interest in ocean sciences and related fields is strong at the undergraduate level. 

Among students at four-year and two-year institutions more than eleven thousand 

students were enrolled in a semester-long or year-long introductory ocean sciencerelated course in 2002. This enrollment comprised almost nine thousand students at 4-

year colleges and 2,500 at 2-year programs. 

The baccalaureate degree programs offered by institutions surveyed are marked by a

diversity of sub-fields and, in fact, the category “other” contained the largest number of 

bachelors degrees awarded in AY2001 (26% of total number of degrees awarded). A 

large number of undergraduates who received degrees in the ocean sciences studied 

marine biology (21%) and marine science (19%). The marine transportation and safety 

field graduated 11% of the ocean science students in AY2001. Overall 59% of the 

bachelors degrees awarded were given to men and 41% went to women. 

Baccalaureate programs were asked to provide information on where their students go 

after college. These students went to graduate school (12%), were employed as K-12 

teaches (1%), were employed in the military (13%), went to work in the private sector 

(18%), or were employed by the civilian government (5%). However, the postgraduation plans of almost half of the students were unknown to department or 

program administrators. 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

With respect to the 2-year programs, 12 institutions awarded 595 certificates or 

associates degrees between July 2000 and June 2001. The most popular fields included 

marine technology, commercial diving, and marine transportation and safety. Of these 

graduates, 95% of the associates degrees and certificates were awarded to men; 5% 

were awarded to women. These data on degrees awarded by gender are consistent 

with those collected for the 1999-2000 academic year through the U.S. Department of 

Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System (IPEDS). The

overwhelming majority of graduates went into the general workforce.

Faculty of Marine Academic Programs

A total of 2562 faculty were involved in baccalaureate and graduate ocean science 

related programs at 86 schools. CORE asked each department not only to provide the

numbers of people employed as faculty, but also the full-time equivalents (FTE) allotted 

to their department or program. Overall, 2227 FTEs were allotted to 86 programs. 

Most of those (72%) were in tenured or tenure-track positions. The majority (75%) of 

job openings at the institutions surveyed are for tenure-track positions. 

Fifty-nine programs reported 374 (67.3%) of their postdoctorates were men; 185 

(33.1%) were women. This ratio of men to women is approximately equal to the ratio 

found among assistant professors. In addition, recently released data from the National 

Science Foundation on earned doctorates during 2000-2001 show a similar figure 

(32.7%) for women earning ocean science-related degrees. 

Fifty-eight programs provided citizenship data on their postdoctoral researchers. 

Individuals were almost evenly split with 298 foreign citizens and 256 U.S. citizens. Of 

the U.S. citizens (155) only 6% (9) represented minority ethnic or racial groups. 

One commonly held belief in the ocean sciences community is that the ocean sciences 

are primarily graduate fields of study. However, this study examined the ocean 

sciences in a broad sense, as well as, a set of sub-fields. This study found there are 

almost as many programs offering ocean science related baccalaureate degrees as 

graduate degrees. In addition, 1,200 students received baccalaureate degrees in ocean 

sciences or related fields in the 2000-2001 school year compared to 800 graduate 

degrees awarded (Chapters 5 and 6). Therefore, undergraduate students and the 

faculty that teach them are a significant part of the academic ocean sciences 

community. 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Conclusions

There is an exceptionally high level of diversity with respect to the scientific fields 

encompassed by the academic ocean sciences community. These fields include the 

natural science fields of biology, chemistry, physics and geology; ocean and coastal 

engineering; and marine policy, and the depth of the academic ocean sciences 

community ranges from training students at community colleges to graduate schools. 

There is strength in that diversity. The academic ocean sciences community has built a 

strong base capable of reaching out to other disciplines, forging unique partnerships, 

and adapting to address emerging national issues. Whether it is ocean engineers who 

will design the next generation of Navy vessels, physical oceanographers who will 

increase our understanding of global climate change, marine biologists who will use 

sound science to better manage our nation’s fisheries, or marine technicians who will 

operate and maintain an integrated ocean observing system, graduates in the ocean 

sciences are poised to provide the scientific information and support necessary to form 

the basis of sound public policy. 

Future studies should address a critical component to the U.S. infrastructure supporting 

marine research, management and education that was not fully examined by this 

study—the U.S. ocean-related workforce. 

Some questions that might be studied within this broad area include: 

• What degrees are required for various jobs and what level of education is desired? 

• Is holding degree in ocean sciences an impediment to finding jobs in other fields? 

• Are we educating our students for the diversity of jobs that are available? 

Furthermore, are our formal educational programs flexible enough to meet the 

changing workforce needs in the ocean sciences and related fields? 

It will also be important to begin tracking retirement and hiring in ocean science-related 

job sectors. No reliable numbers on this segment of the U.S. workforce exist and the 

ocean sciences community, broadly defined, is small enough that the estimates which 

do exist are probably spurious because they are based on small sample sizes within a 

subset of the entire U.S. science and engineering workforce. 

This study provides an important snapshot of the ocean sciences community today; 

illustrating the community’s strengths and highlighting areas where efforts must be

concentrated in order to address current shortcomings. It also provides a useful basis 

of comparison on which to measure the continuing health of community. However, in

order to track that health, such studies must be conducted routinely. 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 

The Oceans Act of 2000 was enacted on August 2000, establishing the Commission on 

Ocean Policy and calling for a report to Congress with recommendations for a

comprehensive U.S. ocean policy. Among the required elements of the report is an 

“assessment of existing and planned facilities associated with ocean and coastal 

activities including human resources, vessels, computers, satellites, and other 

appropriate platforms and technologies.” Central to this infrastructure assessment is an

evaluation of the U.S. investment in academic ocean sciences research and education. 

This report has been prepared to provide that evaluation.

Since the end of World War II and the adoption of Vannevar Bush’s model of public 

support for basic research, the academic community has been the leader in 

understanding and developing solutions to ocean-related problems. The innovation 

inherent in the research process has provided the primary source of knowledge of the

oceans. From the late 1960s to the mid 1980s, the federal investment in basic research 

for the ocean sciences was about seven percent of the federal basic research budget. 

Ocean sciences education programs in the United States also have evolved over the 

past half century, but with a much lower investment than research programs. In 1929, 

a National Academy of Sciences committee chaired by F.R. Lillie produced the report, 

“Oceanography: Its Scope, Problems, and Economic Importance,” which stated: 

The general paucity of opportunities for instruction in this general field is so 

obvious that it needs no detailed survey for corroboration. 

The graduate student, sufficiently devoted to the subject and fitted for advanced 

instruction or research, finds far fewer avenues than the importance this field of 

science demands. 

The advance of Oceanography in America now suffers from one of its greatest 

handicaps, for progress in this science is a matter not only of ships, laboratories 

and money, but far more of men, which implies opportunities for education. And 

it is of men that there is now the most serious shortage. 

It is in fact, one of the most serious obstacles to advances in this field that it is 

not now possible for a student to obtain a course of instruction, properly graded

upward from the elementary introduction to advanced research, in any one 

American University. In America the oceanographer must today be largely selftaught in the basic aspects of his subject. 

Today, the academic ocean sciences community in the United States is exceptionally 

broad, diverse and diffuse. The ocean sciences are interdisciplinary in nature and 

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encompass the natural science fields of biology, chemistry, physics and geology; ocean 

and coastal engineering; and marine policy. Students of the ocean sciences can be 

found in technical and two-year colleges, military academies, and universities in either

undergraduate or graduate programs. Identifying these students and the institutional

resources used to educate them is critical to understanding the current state of the 

ocean sciences community in this country and to identifying areas where additional 

efforts may be required to ensure a robust ocean sciences endeavor in the future. 

Efforts have been made in the past to quantify the academic ocean sciences. In 1978, 

Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI) began collecting and analyzing data on graduate 

education at the JOI schools. At its inception, the JOI analysis included only ten 

schools with ocean science programs. The JOI survey population grew in the early 

1990s and the survey was taken over by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research 

and Education (CORE) following its incorporation in 1994. CORE, with its expanded 

membership base, reached out to a larger survey population and has continued to

collect these data every two years. The last CORE survey of graduate education and

academic research capabilities was conducted in 2000. 

CORE is not the only source of data on graduate education and research capabilities in 

the United States. The National Science Foundation (NSF) maintains one of the largest

and oldest data sets on all science and engineering fields. Other academic professional 

societies such as the American Geophysical Union (AGU) also have collected data on 

doctoral education in the ocean sciences. However, these existing data sets have

inherent weaknesses. First, the true breadth of the ocean sciences community is not 

adequately represented in the NSF or AGU data because of the way in which the 

various sub-disciplines are categorized and, therefore, counted. Those data sets both 

concentrate on physical sciences (physical oceanography and marine geology and

geophysics) and do not take into account numerous facets of the ocean community. 

Similar gaps in the data exist in the data collected in previous years by JOI and CORE. 

As the NSF and AGU data is incomplete in the number of ocean science fields they 

survey, and the JOI and CORE data has also not encompassed the entire community, 

there was a clear need to provide the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy with an up-todate picture of the ocean sciences community. There was a need to evaluate the 

community both in terms of the educational investments being made at the 

undergraduate and graduate level and the capabilities and human resources available at 

the U.S. universities and research centers. In order to address this need, the 

Commission on Ocean Policy contracted with CORE to conduct a survey of

administrators at marine science and policy institutions in United States to collect 

information on students, professors, funding and facilities at the undergraduate and 

graduate level. 

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CORE initiated this data collection via e-mail surveys that addressed a set of topic areas 

determined through discussions with the Commission staff. The topic areas included: 

♦ Numbers of undergraduates at 2-year and 4-year institutions with a major or

minor in marine science, oceanography, or related field; 

♦ Graduate applications, enrollments and offers by field, gender, race/ethnicity, and 

citizenship1

; 

♦ Numbers of PhDs and Masters degrees awarded by field, gender, race/ethnicity, 

and citizenship; 

♦ Graduate student support mechanisms, such as assistantships and fellowships 

♦ Numbers of postdoctoral researchers employed by field, gender, race/ethnicity, 

and citizenship; 

♦ Duration of postdoctoral appointments; 

♦ Employment of recent graduates with bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees 

♦ Numbers of faculty, technicians2

, and non-clerical administrators etc.; 

♦ Amounts of grant support at institutions by source (agency, foundation, state 

government, etc.); 

♦ Capitol investments other than those managed by the University National

Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) (research vessels; ROVs, mass 

spectrometers, hyperbaric chambers, submarines, supercomputers, etc.);

♦ Plans to replace or procure non-UNOLS vessels and facilities.

As the list suggests, the Commission’s information needs ranged widely from personnel 

to financial data. Consequently, it was necessary to develop five different surveys. 

Each participating U.S. marine science and policy institution received from one to four 

surveys based on the level and scope of its programs. The pool of survey recipients is 

listed in Appendix A. A total of 489 surveys were distributed to 148 departments at 139

institutions. Individuals from ocean-related programs or departments at each institution 

were contacted via email, mail, and telephone to solicit their response to the surveys. 

In addition, a number of reminder notices were sent in order to ensure a high response 

rate and answer recipients’ questions about the survey. Chapter 2 provides a more 

detailed explanation of the methodology for the study. 

The study was conducted in a short time frame. It was also necessary to conduct the

surveys during a less than optimum academic time of year. Most of the institutions 

recognized the importance of providing the information to the Commission and 

submitted responses. CORE received 336 responses from the potential pool of 489 

surveys, a 69% overall response rate. Response rates varied among the five different 

surveys reflecting, in large part, the availability of the requested information. In

general, the response rates were significantly lower from two-year colleges (52%) and 

highest from institutions that had participated in CORE surveys in the past.

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 1

 Questions will differentiate between U.S. and non-U.S. citizens, but will not request information about 

nationality. 

2

 Laboratory and ship-board technicians 
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY 

The initial step in the study was to identify appropriate participants in order to solicit

information from the entire community of U.S. institutions of higher learning and 

research involved in coastal and ocean research and education. Those institutions 

include departments of geosciences, biology, physics and environmental sciences that 

offer ocean-related certificates, majors, minors, and graduate degrees. A database of

recipients was constructed using the membership lists of CORE and the National 

Association of Marine Laboratories, and the Marine Advanced Technology Education 

Center’s list of community colleges. Additional input was received from the staff of the 

U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. CORE did not, however, include informal educational

organizations such as aquaria, science centers and zoos. A complete list of the 148 

departments and programs and 139 institutions solicited for this study is provided in 

Appendix A3

. 

Each of the study surveys covered a unique aspect of ocean sciences programs. Twoyear undergraduate colleges were asked to complete a comprehensive questionnaire. 

Other institutions received surveys requesting information in four areas: faculty 

workforce; funding and facilities; graduate programs; and four-year undergraduate 

programs. The five survey instruments were distributed via electronic mail. 

Surveys were distributed in late May and early June 2002. This coincided with the end 

of the spring semester, traditionally the busiest time of the year for academic 

administrators. Survey recipients had three to four weeks to respond to our survey. 

Following receipt of the survey, survey recipients were contacted through email and 

telephone. Additional completion time was given as needed to ensure an accurate and 

high response rate. The resulting response rate was 76% for institutions solicited and

69% for programs within those institutions. CORE received 75% of the faculty surveys, 

66% of the funding and facilities surveys, 71% of the graduate surveys, 66% of the 

undergraduate surveys, and 52% of the two-year surveys distributed to the academic 

ocean sciences community. A detailed breakdown of surveys and responses is provided

in Table 2-1. 

The experimental design of the study was based on recommendations from the 

American Institute of Physics (AIP). Initially, the study was planned as an online survey

through a web site. While this would have eliminated the need for data entry, concerns 

were raised that this approach would make it more difficult for institutions to respond. 

Given the interest in conducting a comprehensive study, the e-mail survey was selected 

as the approach that would be easiest for the survey recipients to fill out and return. 

 

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3

 In addition to the programs solicited by CORE for this study, a few programs returned surveys to CORE 

that were sent to them by one of the programs originally contacted. Hence, the actual number of 

surveys received overall is greater than the number distributed by CORE. 
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

A database in Microsoft Access 97 was developed to link all survey recipients and 

responders to the surveys by means of an institutional code number. Data entry forms 

were developed for each of the five survey instruments and data were exported to 

Excel 97 for review and analysis. All data were checked for inconsistencies in reporting 

both prior to data entry and during analysis. Whenever possible, the persons who filled 

out the survey were asked to clarify any questionable numbers. If an inconsistency 

proved to be irreconcilable, that response was eliminated. 

In some cases, data simply were not available from the institution’s program. This is 

particularly true for the demographic information on gender and ethnic background of 

students, faculty and postdoctoral researchers. In future studies, it may be easier to 

gather such information accurately by surveying individuals directly rather than 

requesting information through an institutional survey. 

In addition to the survey data, several other information sources on postsecondary 

education and support were used for comparison. The National Science Foundation’s 

WebCASPAR system, an online database for computer-aided science policy analysis and 

research, provided statistics on science and engineering graduate education and 

funding. The National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary 

Education Data System (IPEDS), also available through the WebCASPAR system, 

provided information on undergraduate departments. In addition, survey data was 

compared with data collected by AIP, JOI and CORE. The ability to make crossdisciplinary comparisons and historical trends was limited due to different survey 

methods used and the fact that some of the data sets were incomplete. 

The study did provide useful insights for strengthening any future surveys. For 

instance, the questions on graduate student salaries and the relative full-timeequivalent associated with the salary level were unclear and the responses could not be 

included in the analyses. The study also pointed out the importance of expanding and 

updating the list of contacts. While the population surveyed was more inclusive of a 

broadly-defined ocean sciences community than any study conducted to date, we did 

discover that our database falls far short in the area of community colleges. A review 

of programs offering certificates and associates degrees through the IPEDS shows 

minimal overlap between the institutions included in the study and those listed in the 

IPEDS database as offering marine-related associates degrees or certificates. Any 

further investigation should reconcile the two listings. 

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Table 2-1. Summary of response rates by survey type and program or institution. 

Survey 

# of

Programs4

Solicited 

# of

Programs 

that 

responded % Received 

# of

Institutions 

Solicited 

# of

Institutions 

that 

Responded % Received 

2-Year College 

Survey5 25 13 52% 25 13 52%

Faculty Survey 122 91 75% 101 77 76%

Funding and 

Facilities 

Survey 

131 86 66% 81 76 94%

Graduate 

Survey 101 72 71% 83 59 71%

Undergraduate 

Survey 110 73 66% 90 63 70%

Total # of

Surveys 489 335 69% 380 288 76%

 4

 Throughout this report the authors will use programs to refer to any independent laboratory or any 

program, department, or school within a larger university or college. 

5

 Two-year colleges were given one survey which incorporated sections on funding and faculty that are 

comparable to the faculty survey and funding and facilities survey distributed to all other programs. 

Thus, in certain sections of this report the number of responses reported for funding and faculty will 

appear to be higher than the numbers noted in the table above. 

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CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH FUNDING AND PERSONNEL 

Information on funding for ocean sciences research in the academic year 2001-2002 

(AY2002) was requested from 156 programs at 106 institutions. Those surveyed 

included community colleges, baccalaureate programs, independent research 

institutions and large research universities. Eighty-nine institutions conducting 99 

programs responded to the survey. Of the responses, data from 79 programs were 

useable in the analysis. 

Some institutions were unable to differentiate between education and research funds. 

For example, this distinction was particularly difficult for institutions with substantial

funding from internal sources within the university, college, or independent research 

institution. 

Two-year colleges were the smallest category of responses with only thirteen 

institutions contributing. These colleges also had substantially smaller research funding 

budgets and several respondents indicated that their grant support is focused on

education and training programs rather than research. For this reason these 

institutions were not included in the AY2002 analyses on research funding. 

AY2002 Research Funding and Personnel

The 79 academic programs surveyed in the study received total research support of 

$932 million during AY2002 (Figure 3-1). The federal government was the predominant 

funding source, providing $598 million or about 64% of all the funds received. No 

other source of financial support exceeded 10% of the total. Non-federal funding 

sources included internal institutional support, states, private foundations, and private 

corporations. 

The National Science Foundation, (NSF) was the largest funding source in AY2002, 

providing about $214 million or more than a third of the total federal agency funding for 

the ocean sciences (Figure 3-2). This amount was equal to the combined investment of 

the two next largest agency funding sources, the U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Navy and NOAA each contributed 107 

million or 18% of the federal ocean sciences budget. Five other agencies or 

departments individually provided less than 8% of the total federal support. Their 

ocean sciences budgets were as follows: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA) $49 million; Department of the Interior $27 million; Department of Energy $12 

million; Environmental Protection Agency $14 million. The total federal contribution 

from agencies other than those listed accounted for about $65 million of the research 

support for the surveyed institutions. 

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State Funding

8%

Internal 

Funding

10%

Federal Funding

64%

Private

Foundations

7% Other NonFederal

8%

Private

Corporations

3%

Sources of Research Support during 2001-2002

Total Support = $931,969,353

Figure 3-1: Sources of research support at 79 programs during AY2002.

Other DoD

3% Navy

18%

NASA

8%

NOAA

18%

NSF

36%

Other Federal

8%

DOE

2%

DOI

5%

EPA

2%

Federal Support of Ocean-related Research 2001-2002

Total Federal Funding = $597,987,955

Figure 3-2: Federal research support at 79 academic programs during 

AY2002. 

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The research funding available in AY2002 supported a workforce of 8361 people (Figure 

3-3). Thirty percent of that total was composed of graduate students. Research staff, 

technicians, and other non-technical staff together made up almost half (45%) of the 

remaining personnel supported by research funds. Professors constituted about 18% 

and postdoctoral researchers were reported as the smallest component (6%). 

Information on professors and postdoctoral researchers was requested in the faculty 

survey and the funding and facilities survey. The data from those surveys are

summarized in Chapter 8. The total number of professors and postdoctoral researchers 

given in the funding and facilities survey was significantly lower than the total number 

reported in the faculty survey. This difference is likely due to a combination of factors. 

One possibility is that the response rate for the funding and facilities survey was lower 

than for the faculty survey, so the reported numbers represent the collective workforce 

at a smaller number of institutions in the former survey. Another factor may be that 

institutions characterized individuals differently in each of the surveys. Finally, it is 

important to recognize that the funding and facilities survey requested the program to

identify individuals supported by the research funding information they submitted. The 

faculty survey requested information on all personnel regardless of the source of 

support, thus, the total would include those supported by funds categorized in the 

response as non-research funds.

497

1154

1529

2526

868

1787

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Postdoctorates Other Nonclerical StaffTechnicians Professors Research Staff Graduate

students

People supported by Research Funding during 2001-2002

Figure 3-3: A total of 8361 people were supported at 75 academic 

programs.

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Funding at Selected Ocean Sciences Programs, AY 1997 and AY 2002

The ten original members of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI)6

 have among 

the largest and most comprehensive of the nation’s ocean sciences research programs. 

As such they provide a useful subset of national programs for examining changes in the 

academic ocean sciences community and for the rest of this analysis will be referred to 

as selected programs. Although surveys of the selected programs have been conducted 

since 1978, those surveys did not include a request for funding information. In 1995, 

CORE began a biennial assessment of the capabilities of its membership. Since that

time, CORE has conducted four capabilities surveys, including the current survey. 

However, survey data from each of the selected programs exist for the academic year 

1996-1997 (AY1997) and AY2002 only. Analysis of the AY1997 and AY2002 data 

provides a snapshot of the research support received by the academic ocean sciences 

community during these two school years. The ten programs selected represented 

11% of the 86 respondents to the CORE 2002 survey on funding and facilities. 

A number of interesting points emerged from the comparisons between the AY1997 and 

AY2002 numbers for this subset of programs. The total amount of funding7

 spent on 

research at the selected programs has increased from $398.8 million in AY1997 to 

$439.4 million in AY2002 (+10.2%). The federal government remained the largest 

source of funding for academic ocean science at the selected programs, but it is 

declining in importance. In AY2002, federal support was 71.6% of the total for this 

subset of programs. This is a decrease of 13.0% from AY1997 when federal funds

made up 84.6% of the research dollars at the 10 programs. 

Only three federal agencies, NSF, NASA and USGS, have seen increases in their support

for academic ocean science at the selected programs. NSF has increased its research 

support by approximately $13.4 million, and now represents 42.7% (+6.9%) of the 

total federal funds supporting the selected programs (Table 3-1). 

Among the federal agencies, funding from the Navy has seen the biggest decline during 

this five-year period, from 24.8% to 19.6%. State and local support of ocean research 

at the selected programs also has shown a substantial drop, from 9.5% in AY1997 to 

4.8% in AY2002. 

 6

 These selected institutions include Columbia University (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory), Oregon 

State University (College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences), Texas A&M University (College of 

Geosciences), University of California at San Diego (Scripps Institution of Oceanography), University of 

Hawaii (School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology), University of Miami (Rosenstiel School of Marine

and Atmospheric Sciences), University of Rhode Island (Graduate School of Oceanography), University of 

Texas at Austin (Institute for Geophysics), University of Washington (School of Oceanography), and 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Since 1998 JOI membership has expanded to include other 

schools but we did not include these since they were not part of the older data sets. 

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7

 Funding figures in this chapter have not been adjusted for inflation.
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Despite the overall declines in total federal, state and private research funding, the 

research budgets of the 10 selected programs have grown by 10.2% since 1997. This 

situation raises the question of where the institutions now look to replace decreasing 

support from their traditional funding sources. Other than NSF, the only funding 

category to show substantial increases is the catchall, “Other (non-federal) Research,” 

growing from less than $1 million in AY1997 to almost $88 million in AY2002. Closer 

examination of the raw data suggests that funding was lumped in this category for a

variety of reasons. First, the responding program did not provide enough information 

to classify funding under a better-defined category or the corresponding category (e.g. 

“Other Department of Interior”) was not available in the 1997 survey. Second, the 

selected programs appear to be receiving research support from a number of less 

traditional funding sources including foreign governments, international organizations,

and quasi-governmental entities like local port authorities. Another explanation may be

the growth in the funding provided under partnerships and matching arrangements. 

More institutions appear to be participating in consortia or pooling their funding from 

federal, state and private sources, making it impossible to assign the resources to a 

single category. Obvious examples of such arrangements are the National 

Oceanographic Partnership Program and the National Sea Grant College Program. 

Table 3-1: The following table summarizes the differences between the AY1997 and 

AY2002 federal agency funding at selected ocean sciences programs. 

Federal 

Agency 

AY1997 

Amount 

($ M) 

% of AY 

1997 

AY 2002 

Amount 

($ M) 

% of AY 

2002 

Total 

NSF 120.7 35.8 134.2 42.7 

Navy 83.8 24.8 61.6 19.6 

Other DoD 10.0 3.0 5.2 1.6

NOAA 48.1 14.3 47.7 15.2 

NASA 19.9 5.9 26.5 8.4 

DOE 5.4 1.6 3.8 1.2 

EPA 1.2 0.4 1.4 0.5 

USGS 1.7 0.5 2.2 0.7

MMS 2.8 0.8 1.4 0.5

Other Federal 43.7 12.9 30.5 9.7 

Total 

Federal 

337.4 100.0 314.5 100.18

 

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8

 Sum of percentages are greater than 100 because of rounding. 
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Comparison of 10 Selected Programs to All Other Programs, AY2002

In the previous section of this report, the 10 JOI programs were selected as a subset 

for examining changes in funding between AY1997 and AY2002 because they were the 

most consistently identified subgroup within the ocean sciences community for which 

such information is available. These 10 schools are among the nation’s largest, 

receiving 47% of all research dollars in the ocean sciences, 53% of the federal ocean 

research budgets and employing about 43% of the related workforce in AY2002. At the 

same time, it is important to recognize that these institutions are unlikely to be 

representative of the ocean sciences community as a whole. For this reason, it is 

necessary to examine how the selected programs compare to all other programs in the 

CORE study with respect to support for research and personnel in AY2002. 

Respondents from both the selected programs and all other programs acquired most of 

their research support from the federal agencies. However, for the selected programs, 

federal support comprised roughly 72% of all research funding compared with 58% for 

all other programs. The other programs appear to make up this difference through a 

greater reliance on funding from private corporations, private foundations and state

governments. 

For the selected programs, the primary federal funding sources were NSF (43%), Navy 

(20%) and NOAA (15%). These agencies also provided a significant part of the 

research budgets of the other schools’ programs as follows: NSF (28%); NOAA (21%);

and Navy (16%). 

Similarities between the two groups of programs can be found in the level of ocean 

science research funding provided by NOAA. NOAA provided a total of $107.4 million in 

research funding to the survey respondents of which the 10 selected programs received 

44%. 

In contrast, the Navy, NASA and NSF invested more heavily in the selected programs 

For example, the Navy funding for all survey respondents totaled $107.3 million, of 

which 57% went to the selected programs while 54% of NASA’s $49.0 million was 

awarded to the selected programs. In addition, $214.4 million or 63% of NSF’s ocean 

research support in AY2002 supported the selected programs, while $80.3 million or

37% of the NSF ocean research support went to all other schools. In contrast, the 

ocean science research funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Mineral Management Services (MMS), and U.S. 

Department of Energy (DoE) generally support coastal and applied research and go 

predominantly to all other programs in the study. These agencies’ funding was 

distributed as follows: 

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• 10% of EPA’s $14.1 million went to the 10 selected programs; 90% of the went to 

all other programs; 

• 35% of USGS’ $6.3 million went to the 10 selected programs; 65% went to all other 

programs; 

• 40% of MMS’ $3.5 million went to the 10 selected programs; 60% went to all other 

programs; 

• 30% of DoE’s $12.6 million went to the 10 selected programs; 70% went to all other 

programs. 

In summary, the 10 selected programs received a majority of NSF’s, the Navy’s and 

NASA’s financial contribution to ocean science research while the remaining 76

programs in our study received a majority of the funding by EPA, DoE, MMS, NOAA and

USGS.

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CHAPTER FOUR: FACILITIES AND VESSELS

As part of the funding and facilities survey, an assessment was conducted of the 

current availability, age, and type of facilities and vessels housed at academic 

institutions that support ocean and coastal research. Because the University-National 

Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) maintains data on the UNOLS fleet, those 

vessels were specifically excluded from this study. Information was solicited from 131 

programs at 81 institutions, and 86 programs (66%) responded, listing for each type of 

vessel or facility, its age, its primary owner, and any plan for replacement. Programs 

were also asked when replacement would occur, but CORE received too few responses 

to provide a meaningful summary of that request. 

Figure 4-1 summarizes the types of vessel and facilities that respondents listed, 

including vessels, buildings and laboratories of all sizes, shapes and types. For the

purpose of this analysis, vessels were broken down into two categories, those greater 

than or equal to 25 feet in length and those less than 25 feet. 

61

72

28

3

26

78

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Bldgs./Labs Vessels >/= 25' essels < 25' General

Instruments

Underwater

Vehicles

Supercomputers

Non-UNOLS Vessels & Facilities

May 2002

Figure 4-1 : General instruments include mass spectrometers, gene sequencers, particle 

counters, etc. Underwater vehicles include submersibles (peopled), tethered vehicles, 

remotely providing data per category can be found in Table 4-1. *This category likely 

represents less than the actual number of small vessels used for ocean science research 

purposes. 

*V

While the smaller vessels are clearly an important part of the research infrastructure, 

larger vessels are more indicative of the ability to conduct long-term studies further 

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from shore. The number of small vessels is likely to be under-counted since most 

programs were unable to quantify every skiff and “Boston whaler” owned by their 

institution. Similarly, the number representing general instrumentation is very likely a

low estimate. 

The age and replacement plan information for the categories of facilities and vessels 

mentioned above can be found in Table 4-1. Research vessels made up the most 

populous category with a total of 150 reported. About 60% of the larger vessels 

greater than 25-feet were less than 20 years old, with a quarter being 10 years old or

less. Very few institutions have replacement plans for their facilities, and a number of 

programs noted that lack of available funds was the primary factor preventing planning.

Table 4-1: Non-UNOLS Vessels and Facilities in the Academic Ocean Sciences 

Community as of May 2002. 

Type 

 (n= number of institutions) 

Total 

# 

Mean 

Age 

(years)

Min. Age 

(years)

Median 

Age 

(years)

Max. 

Age 

(years)

# with 

replacement plan

Bldgs. And Labs 

(n=24)

61 16 1 10 60 10

Vessels >/= 25 feet 

(n=38)

72 20 0.25 18 53 14 

Vessels < 25 feet 

(n=17) 

78 14 1 14 38 4

Underwater Vehicles

(n=15)

28 13 0.25 10 40 5 

Supercomputers 

(n=2)

3 4.5 1 4.5 8 1

General Instrumentation 

(n=19) 

26 6.7 0.3 5.5 18.0 4 

As Figure 4-2 illustrates, an overwhelming majority among all categories of vessels, 

facilities and instrumentation were owned by the institution. The federal government 

was the second most frequently listed owner, primarily for special instrumentation, 

underwater vehicles and large research vessels. States have a stake in a small number 

of research vessels of various sizes and a larger number of buildings and laboratories. 

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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Bldgs./Labs

Vessels>/= 25'

Vessels < 25'

General Instruments

Underwater Vehicles

Supercomputers

Institutions States Others

Ownership of Facilities at Ocean-related Academic Programs 

as of May 2002

61 72 78 26 28 3

Federal Govt. Unspecified

Figure 4-2: Fifty-four programs contributed data. The number per category is 

listed above each column. 

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CHAPTER FIVE: GRADUATE PROGRAMS 

This analysis is based on 63 different graduate programs. The graduate survey asked 

various questions regarding applications, offers, enrollments, degrees granted, and 

postgraduate employment. A copy of the survey is provided in Appendix B, pp. 57-63.

Applications, Offers and Acceptance Rates

Applications to 58 marine graduate programs remained relatively constant in 2001 and 

2002 at approximately 4000 per year. One-third of the applicants were admitted each 

year (Table 5-1). 

Table 5-1: Summary of acceptance rates at 58 graduate programs in the 

United States.

Graduate 

Programs 

Applications Offers Percent of 

Applications 

Accepted 

Fall 2001 3992 1393 35% 

Fall 2002 4020 1286 32% 

Both 2001 & 

2002 

8012 2679 33%

First Year Enrollments

First-year enrollment numbers for Fall 2001 were provided by 57 different academic 

graduate programs (Figure 5-2). One-third of the students admitted into a marine 

graduate program were admitted into marine biology and biological oceanography. The

remaining two-thirds of admitted students were almost equally distributed among other 

marine-related fields. Of the students in the category entitled “other”, 30% were 

enrolled in a hydrographics program at the University of Southern Mississippi. 

The ratio of men to women who enrolled for the first time during Fall 2001 was 1:1 

(Figure 5-2). Following marine biology and biological oceanography, the second largest 

field for women was marine geology and geophysics (57%) followed by marine 

chemistry and chemical oceanography (56%). In contrast, men made up the majority 

in ocean engineering (79%) and physical oceanography (67%). Data on citizenship 

was reported for 671 newly enrolled students. Of that group, 21% were foreign 

citizens. Of the U.S. citizens enrolled during Fall 2001, ethnicity and race were reported 

for 96% of the population and is summarized in Table 5-2. 

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91

79

61

44

33 30 28

37

171

21

30

38

43 40 36

29

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Mar.

Bio/Bio.

O cg.

O E Phys.

O cg

Aqua. &

Fish.

Sci.

Mar.

Chem ./

MG&G Marine

Policy

Other

Men W om en

First-Year Enrollments by Gender and Field, Fall 2001 

Figure 5-2: Gender reported for 811 first-year students at 57 graduate programs.

Mar. Bio/Bio. 

Ocg.

33%

Aqua. & Fish. 

Sci.

10%

Phys. Ocg

11%

OE

12%

MG&G

9%

Mar. 

Chem/Chem. 

Ocg.

9%

Marine Policy

8%

Other

8%

First-year Enrollments in Ocean-related Graduate Programs, Fall 2001

Figure 5-1: Fifty-seven programs reported 814 students enrolled for the first time in

Fall 2001. Aqua.= aquaculture; Chem. = chemical or chemistry; Fish. Sci. = Fishery 

Sciences; Mar. = marine; Ocg.= oceanography; OE= ocean engineering; MG&G = 

marine geology and geophysics. Other= atmospheric and ocean sciences, climate 

sciences, environmental toxicology, hydorgraphics, remote sensing, wetlands ecology 

and unspecified fields. 
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Table 5-2: Ethnicity/Race of U.S. citizens enrolled in ocean-related graduate programs for the 

first time during Fall 2001. Forty-nine (49) programs reported data on 577 students. 

Ethnicity/ 

Race 

White Hispanic Asian 

American

Native 

American

African 

American 

Other 

Total 517 22 12 3 13 10

% of Total 89.6% 3.8% 2.1% 0.5% 2.3% 1.7%

Graduate Students in Residence

The total number of graduate students in residence during Fall 2001, including first-year 

enrollments, was provided by 60 different academic programs (Figure 5-3). Thirty-six 

percent of the students in a marine-related graduate program were in a marine biology 

and biological oceanography program. Aquaculture and fishery sciences made up the 

next largest segment of this population (12%). The number of students in chemical 

oceanography and marine chemistry, physical oceanography, marine geology and 

geophysics, and ocean engineering programs was about equal (between 9% and 10% 

each). Marine policy, coastal and estuarine studies, and “other” fields made up the 

remainder of the student population in residence during Fall 2001. The majority of 

students in the category entitled “other” were identified as studying “atmospheric and 

ocean sciences.” 

Mar. Bio./ Bio.

Ocg.

36%

Aqua. & Fish. Sci.

12% Phys. Ocg

10%

MG&G

10%

CES

Other 2%

6%

Mar. Chem./ Chem. Ocg.

10%

Marine Policy

5%

OE

9%

Figure 5-3: The pie chart represents 3255 graduate students in residence at 60 

programs. Abbreviations are the same as those in previous graphs. In addition, CES = 

coastal and estuarine studies.

Graduate Students in Residence in Ocean-related Programs, Fall 2001

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Gender and Field of Graduate Students in Residence, Fall 2001

469

236 222

159 155

232

125

84 34

709

140 110

166 155

59

71

92 31

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Mar. Bio.

/Bio.

Ocg.

Aqua. &

Fish.

Sci.

Phys.

Ocg

Mar. Chem/

Chem. Ocg.

MG&G OE Other Marine

Policy

CES

Men Women

Figure 5-4: Gender of 3255 graduate students in residence at 60 U.S. graduate 

programs. 

The gender distribution of graduate students in residence consisted of 53% men and 

47% women (Figure 5-4). Similar to the gender ratios by field for first-year 

enrollments, women dominated marine biology and biological oceanography and were 

the majority in marine chemistry and chemical oceanography and in marine geology 

and geophysics. Men were the majority in ocean engineering and physical 

oceanography. Twenty-three percent of students in residence as of Fall 2001 were 

foreign citizens. Of the U.S. citizens in residence, ethnicity and race were reported for 

95% (2191) of the population (Table 5-3). Eighty-eight percent were identified as 

“white” in the survey. 

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Table 5-3: Ethnicity and race of U.S. citizens in residence in ocean-related graduate programs 

during Fall 2001. Forty-eight programs provided data on 2191 students which is approximately 

95% of total students in residence for whom citizenship was reported. 

Ethnicity/ 

Race 

White Hispanic Asian 

American

Native 

American

African 

American 

Other 

Total 1936 99 60 8 35 53

% of Total 88.4% 4.5% 3.1% <1% 1.6% 2.4%

Types of Student Support

Forty-six graduate programs reported on the type of support - if any - their 2673 

students had received during Fall 2001 (Table 5-4). Of that group, the majority (56%) 

were supported by research assistantships. Conversely, traineeships made of up the 

lowest percentage of reported student support (1%). In addition, 10% of the students 

in residence had teaching assistantships; 13% had fellowships; 8% received support

from some other source; and 12% received no financial support. 

Comparisons with the physics and life sciences fields show that the graduate programs 

in the ocean sciences are more dependent than most others on research assistantships. 

In physics and life sciences, higher percentages of the student populations are 

supported by teaching assistantships and traineeships. In addition, the life and physical 

sciences garner much larger total numbers of these funding mechanisms because their

overall student populations are so large. 

The portion of students in marine graduate programs receiving “other” types of support 

(including self-support) is approximately 20% of the total. This is higher than those 

students in atmospheric sciences, astronomy and physics, but is lower than those in the 

life sciences (Table 5-4). Many students in marine graduate programs included in the 

“other support” category are students who support themselves. The students who 

provide their own financial support often attend masters-level policy and management

programs that do not offer research assistantships, fellowships, or traineeships. 

A plurality (42%) of students in the life sciences are either self-supported or their 

support does not fit into the other categories. The large size of this segment may be

due in part to the students in professional medical programs. Still, the life sciences are 

the most diverse in terms of the types of graduate funding. By contrast, student 

support in the atmospheric sciences is the least diverse, relying mostly on research 

assistantships. Similar to the ocean and atmospheric sciences, a high percentage 

astronomy students are supported by research assistantships, but this is balanced by 

low numbers providing their own support, a slightly higher percentage in traineeships, 

and a significant portion employed by teaching assistantships. 

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While these numbers and percentages may not be surprising to those familiar with 

graduate education in scientific fields, it is important to pay attention to this aspect of 

the graduate student experience, since the type of support a student receives in 

graduate school influences the development of research, teaching, and management 

skill sets and can limit or expand a student’s awareness of different career paths and 

job sectors open to them. 

Table 5-4: Comparison of graduate student support among several scientific fields. 

Data on other fields are derived from Web CASPAR system and cover students in 

residence as of Fall 2000. Data on the ocean sciences and related fields covers students 

in residence as of Fall 2001. Total numbers of students for each discipline are listed in 

parentheses. 

Type of 

Student 

Support 

Ocean 

Sciences 

(2673) 

Astronomy

(823) 

Atmospheric 

Sciences 

(844) 

Life 

Sciences 

(9811) 

Physical 

Sciences

(2673) 

Fellowship 13.0% 15.0% 5.7% 8.5% 8.5%

Traineeship 1.0% 2.5% 0.0% 9.0% 2.0%

Teaching

Assistant 10.0% 27.0% 12.3% 12.5% 38.0%

Research 

Assistant 56.0% 51.5% 66% 28.0% 43.5%

Other 20.0% 4.0% 16.0% 42.0% 8.0%

Masters Degrees Awarded

Masters degrees were awarded from 53 different programs with approximately onethird of those degrees in marine biology and biological oceanography (Figure 5-5). 

Aquaculture and fishery sciences accounted for another 14% of the masters degrees 

earned. Marine Policy was the area of specialization for about 11% of the degrees 

earned, while ocean engineering and physical oceanography were 15% and 10% of the 

number respectively. The remainder of the degrees awarded were in marine chemistry 

and chemical oceanography, marine geology and geophysics, coastal and estuarine 

studies, and “other”. Specified “other” fields included atmospheric and ocean sciences, 

hydrographics, interdisciplinary oceanography, marine science, non-thesis 

oceanography, and remote sensing. 

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Mar. Bio/Bio.

Ocg.

32%

Aqua. & Fish. Sci.

Phys. Ocg. 14%

10%

Mar. Chem./Chem. Ocg.

5%

Marine Policy

11%

MG&G

5% OE

15%

Other

5%

CES

3%

Ocean-related Masters Degrees Awarded

July 2000-June 2001

Figure 5-5: Fifty-three programs reported awarding 533 Masters degrees.

Overall, 57% of the masters degrees were earned by men and 43% were earned by 

women (Figure 5-6). Men comprised the majority in almost all fields except marine 

biology and biological oceanography and marine policy. However, degrees awarded in 

marine chemistry and chemical oceanography and marine geology and geophysics were 

equally distributed among men and women. These data were provided by 52 programs 

for 532 students. 

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Masters Degrees Awarded by Gender and Field 

July 2000-June 2001

73

65

48

29

32

14 14

16 11

93

17

26

31

20

14 13

9 7

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Mar. Bio./

Bio.

Ocg.

OE Aqua. &

Fish. Sci.

Marine

Policy

Phys.

Ocg.

MG&G Mar. Chem/

Chem. Ocg.

Other CES

Men Women

Figure 5-10: Fifty-two programs provided data on field and gender of 532 masters 

degree recipients between June 2000 and July 2001. 

Citizenship information was provided by 50 programs for 492 people who received a 

Masters degree between July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001. Of that group, 15.6% were 

foreign citizens; 84.5% were U.S. citizens. 

In addition, 45 programs reported ethnicity and race for 380 (91%) of the U.S. citizens 

who received their masters degree during the same time period. This group was 

predominately white (339 or 89%), although it also included 23 Hispanic Americans, 6

African American, 5 Asian Americans, and 1 Native American. 

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Doctoral Degrees Awarded

Ocean-related doctoral degrees were awarded to 265 students by 42 different academic 

programs. The highest number —one-third— of degrees were awarded in marine 

biology and biological oceanography, followed in order of abundance by physical 

oceanography, marine chemistry and chemical oceanography, ocean engineering and 

fishery sciences. The “other” category included atmospheric and ocean sciences, 

general oceanography, fisheries oceanography, interdisciplinary oceanography. In 

addition, four doctorates were awarded in marine policy (Figure 5-7). Overall, a 

majority (63%) of the doctorates were awarded to men (Figure 5-8). 

Mar. Bio./ Bio.

Ocg.

33%

Aqua. & Fish. Sci.

Phys. Ocg 10%

15%

OE

11%

MG&G

7%

Mar. Chem./Chem. Ocg.

14%

Other

6%

CES

4%

Ocean-related Doctorates Awarded, July 2000-June 2001

Figure 5-7: Forty-two programs awarded doctorates to 265 students.

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52

31

22

24

14 10

7

7

37

9

14

5

12 8

9

4

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Doctoral Degrees Awarded by Gender and Field, July 2000-June 2001

0%

Mar.Bio /

Bio. Ocg.

Phys. Ocg Mar.Chem/

Chem. Ocg.

OE Aqua. &

Fish. Sci.

MG&G Other CES

Men Women

Figure 5-8: Forty-two programs provided gender and field data on 265 doctorate 

recipients. Overall 63% were earned by men and 37% were earned by women.

Forty programs reported citizenship for 245 of the 265 doctorate recipients. Of this 

group, 81 (33%) were foreign and 164 (67%) were U.S. citizens. This is the highest 

ratio of foreign to U.S. citizens among all graduate student cohorts mentioned in this 

study. 

As with the other student groups, ethnicity/race was reported for U.S. citizens only. 

The ethnic/racial diversity among the doctorate recipients was slightly greater than that

of the other graduate student populations surveyed (Table 5-5). 

Table 5-5: Ethnicity/race of the doctorates awarded between July 2000 and June

2001. Thirty-two programs provided data on 149 doctorates who are U.S. citizens. 

Ethnicity/

Race White Hispanic 

Asian 

American

Native 

American

African 

American Other 

Number 129 8 7 0 1 4

% 86.6% 5.4% 4.7% 0.0% 0.7% 2.7%

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Post-graduation Employment

 the 798 students reported receiving those degrees between July 2000 and

 June 2001. Upon graduating, 25% of the degree recipients were employed at a fouryear college, university or a university-affiliated research center. Doctorate recipients 

comprised most of that 25% (127 doctoral degree recipients compared to 59 masters 

degree recipients). In contrast, a higher number of masters recipients were employed 

by a federal agency or private (for-profit) organization (133 masters degree recipients 

compared to 61 doctoral degree recipients). Unfortunately, approximately 26% of the 

programs surveyed could not report the initial employment of their recent graduates. 

The programs surveyed were able to report initial employment for fewer masters (34% 

unknown) than doctorates (10% unknown) (Table 5-6). 

Table 5-6: Where did graduates go after degree was awarded? Data cover those 

students who were awarded degrees between July 2000 and June 2001. 

Post-graduation Employment 

Masters Degrees 

485 recipients 

from 48 programs 

Doctorates 

252 recipients 

 from 40 programs 

Foreign students who left the USA 5% (25) 8% (21) 

Employed in a four-year college or 

university 

5% (25) 29% (75) 

Employed in university-affiliated 

research center 

7% (34) 21% (52) 

Employed in a federal agency 17% (81) 13% (33) 

Employed in a state agency 3% (16) 2% (4) 

Employed in a non-profit organization 4% (19) 2% (4) 

Employed in private, for-profit sector 11% (52) 11% (28) 

Employed in other* 7% (34) 4% (10) 

Employment unknown 34% (166) 10% (25) 

Enrolled in another university 7% (33) not applicable 

Notes:"Other" was not specified in the survey responses. Numbers of students are 

shown in parentheses. 

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Comparison of Selected Ocean Sciences Programs with All Other Programs

Since 1978 data has been collected on many aspects of graduate programs at the ten 

JOI schools referred to in Chapter 3 as the selected programs. In the early 1990’s, this 

data collection effort expanded to include an additional 10 to 15 graduate programs. 

However, individual institutions within this group did not provide graduate program data 

consistently throughout the years, making reliable comparisons with the older data

impossible. 

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CHAPTER SIX: 

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS AT FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES AND 

UNIVERSITIES 

One hundred ten programs at 90 institutions were surveyed about their ocean-related 

undergraduate programs. Of that group, data from 65 programs were used in the 

analyses below. Programs were asked to provide information on numbers of bachelors 

degrees awarded by field and gender. CORE also requested the number of marine 

minors awarded, the number of students who took an introductory level Marine Science 

course (Oceanography 101 or the equivalent), and where students went after getting 

their bachelors degree in a marine field. The complete survey is located in Appendix B.

Baccalaureate Degrees Awarded 

The schools surveyed that offer undergraduate degrees in the ocean sciences awarded 

a total of 1238 baccalaureate degrees in the 2000-2001 academic year (AY2001). 

Degrees were awarded in the fields of marine science, marine biology, marine 

technology, marine transportation and safety, aquaculture, fisheries, marine and coastal 

zone management, and a category labeled “other” (Figure 6-1). 

 

The baccalaureate degree programs are marked by a diversity of sub-fields, and in fact 

the “other” category contained the largest number of bachelors degrees awarded in 

AY2001, 26%. Survey respondents graduated students in the following “other” 

subfields: 

• Aquatic and Fishery Sciences • Geology, Geology and Geophysics 

• Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences • Marine Affairs 

• Biology • Marine Environmental Studies 

• Coastal Engineering • Marine Studies 

• Coastal Studies • Marine Transportation 

• Earth Systems Science and Policy • Meteorology 

• Earth and Ocean Sciences • Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering

• General Physics 

A large number of undergraduates who received degrees in the ocean sciences studied 

marine biology (21%) and marine science (19%). The marine transportation and safety 

field graduated 11% of the ocean science students in AY2001. 

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Ocean-related Baccalaureate Degrees 

Awarded July 2000-June 2001

Other

26%

Marine Technology

<1%

Marine Science

19%

OE

14%

Marine & CZM

2%

Marine Biology

21%

Marine Transp. &

Safety

11%

Aquaculture

5%

Fisheries

2%

Figure 6-1: Forty-two programs awarded 1238 bachelors degrees. CZM = Coastal Zone 

Management, OE = Ocean Engineering, and Transp. = Transportation.

Only twenty-four of the programs surveyed awarded a marine minor. Of those 

programs, 16 programs awarded a total of 140 minors in a marine field during AY2001. 

Compared to some other disciplines, like physics, this is a large number of minors 

awarded for a relatively small field. Anecdotal evidence indicates that this may be due 

to the largely multidisciplinary nature of the ocean sciences which makes it well suited

to being offered as a complementary focus of a larger core discipline such as physics, 

biology or chemistry. 

Information on gender was provided for 1211 of the 1238 baccalaureates awarded 

during AY2001 (Figure 6-2). Women dominated the marine biology and marine 

sciences degrees awarded, but men were the majority in all the other majors. Overall 

59% of the bachelors degrees awarded were given to men and 41% went to women. 

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Gender Distribution of Bachelors Degree Recipients 

July 2000-June 2001

16

18 42 113 146

113

79

180

3

9 16

21 27

117

154

152

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Fisheries Marine &

CZM

Aquac. Marine

Transp. &

Safety

OE Marine

Science

Marine Bio. Other

Men Women

Figure 6-2: Forty-one programs reported gender for 1211 baccalaureates. Although not shown in 

this graph, marine technology majors were awarded to four men and one woman.

Aquac.= aquaculture, Bio. = Biology, CZM=Coastal Zone Management, Fisheries= Fishery Science and 

Management, OE= Ocean Engineering, and Transp. = Transportation.

Introductory Courses

In an effort to assess the potential impact of ocean science-related programs at fouryear colleges and universities, survey recipients were asked if their department or 

program taught an introductory level marine science course (Oceanography 101 or the

equivalent) for one or two semesters. 

Forty-six baccalaureate programs indicated that during AY 2002, 8687 students had 

taken one or two semesters of an introductory course. To put this number in context, 

we calculated the percentage of the potential pool of freshman students at 24 

institutions. We also calculated the total number of freshman who took an introductory

physics course at the same 24 institutions. (Data on other scientific fields were not

available for this comparison.) We found that approximately 7% of this cohort of

93,962 freshman took an introductory marine science (or similar) course, while 17% 

were enrolled in Physics 101 for non-physics majors. 

We made several assumptions when making these calculations. First, that these 

introductory courses are taken primarily by freshman. Second, that student enrollments

between 1998 and 2001 were stable. This is important because the most recent data 

available on the total freshman enrollments covers the 1998-1999 academic year while 

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the data on Physics-101 enrollments covered the 2000-2001 academic year and the 

numbers from this study cover the 2001-2002 academic year. 

It should also be noted that a similar question was asked of the community college 

programs. Thirteen community colleges responded that 2450 of their students were 

enrolled in an introductory ocean sciences course offered by their department. They 

represented 22% of the total enrollments in this kind of course as reported by both 

four-year and two-year programs. The actual contribution of the community colleges is 

probably higher because CORE only received responses from 50% of the two-year 

programs surveyed. 

Post-baccalaureate Employment

Forty-two baccalaureate programs provided information on where 1116 of their 

students went after college. However, the post-graduation plans of almost half of these 

students were unknown to the department or program administrators (Table 6-1). 

Further study of where students from each field go, and whether they are being 

prepared for a job or higher degree (or neither) would be worthwhile, both as a first

step in acquiring feedback from programs on their career preparation of students for

careers and to assess the programs’ workforce contributions. 

Table 6-1. Post-college activity of 1116 bachelors degree recipients between July 1, 

2000 and June 30, 2001. 

Post-baccalaureate plans of 2001-2002 graduates 

Percent of 

total degree 

recipients: 

Department/Program staff don’t know 46 

Enrolled in graduate program in ocean science-related field 9 

Enrolled in graduate program in non-ocean science-related 

field 

3 

Employed as a K-12 teacher 1 

Employed in the private sector 18 

Active military 13 

Civilian government: federal 2 

Civilian government: state or local 1 

Civilian government: unspecified 2 

Other sector 5 

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CHAPTER SEVEN: UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS AT TWO-YEAR 

COLLEGES 

Twenty-five institutions offering certificates and associates degrees in marine-related 

fields were contacted for this study and thirteen responded (52%). Because these 

institutions tend to focus on vocational and technical training, CORE designed a 

separate comprehensive survey for two-year colleges that incorporated many questions 

similar in form and content to those on the faculty and funding surveys (Appendix B, 

pp. 66-71. This approach allowed information on community college faculty and research 

support to be included and analyzed in chapters 8 and 3 respectively. This chapter 

examines the unique aspects of two-year colleges that distinguish them from other 

types of marine science institutions. 

Associates Degrees and Certificates Awarded 

The fields for associates degrees and certificates varies from those offered at four-year 

colleges and universities and graduate programs. Marine technology and commercial 

Commercial Diving

28%

Marine Mechanics

4%

Marine Trans. &

Safety

14%

Other

11%

Marine Science

1%

Shipbuilding

3%

Aquaculture

2%

Marine Technology

37%

Ocean-related Degrees Awarded at Two-year Colleges 

July 2000-June 2001

Figure 7-1: Twelve colleges awarded 595 degrees during 2000-2001. 

Trans.= Transportation. “Other” was not specified by the institutions.

 

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diving were the most popular fields comprising 65% of the degrees awarded between 

July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001 (Figure 7-1). Marine transportation and safety was the

next largest segment (14%) followed by “other” (11%) which was not defined. 

Aquaculture, marine science, shipbuilding and marine mechanics accounted for the 

remaining 10% of the associates degrees and certificates. There were no graduates in 

marine biology, fisheries science and management, or ocean engineering in AY2001, 

although there may have been no students were enrolled in those fields. 

210 167 78 61 21 15

19 1 5 2 0 1

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Marine Commercial Marine Trans.

& Safety

Other Marine Shipbuilding

Men Women

Figure 7-2: Ten schools awarded 595 certificates and degrees 

The abbreviations are similar to previous graphs. 

Gender Distribution of Associates Degrees & Certificates 

July 2000-June 2001 

Of this group of graduates, 95% of the associates degrees and certificates were 

awarded to men and 5% were awarded to women. These data are consistent with 

those collected for the 1999-2000 academic year (AY2000) through the U.S. 

Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System (IPEDS). 

The distribution of the associates degrees and certificates awarded by gender and field 

is shown in Figure 7-2. 

Citizenship was reported for 568 of the 595 degree recipients. Ninety-four percent 

were U.S. citizens. Too few data on ethnicity and race of these students were reported 

to produce a robust analysis. Because the IPEDS data is comparable to this survey’s 

with respect to gender, the same source of data was employed for an analysis of 

ethnicity and race of the graduates of two-year college programs. The IPEDS data 

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show a racial/ethnic breakdown of 84% white, 6% Native American, 6% Hispanic 

American, 2.2% African American for students awarded associates degrees or

certificates during AY2000. 

Initial Employment from Two-year Colleges

As with the other surveys the community colleges were asked where their students 

went after graduation. Nine programs were able to provide information on a total of 

429 degree or certificate recipients. The responses are summarized in the table below. 

Table 7-1: Post-graduation plans for those who received an Associates degree 

or certificate in a marine field. 

Post-graduation plans of community college students Percent of Total 

(Total =429) 

Transferred to a four-year college 4 

Went into general workforce 67 

Went into an ocean sciences-related job 9 

Other (not specified) 17

Don’t know 3 

In contrast with many of the other institutions who participated in the survey, these 

programs keep track of where their graduates go. However, the overwhelming majority 

were listed as going into the general workforce, which is a higher figure than expected. 

Perhaps the person answering the survey did not define “ocean science-related” as 

broadly as the authors of this study have. Another explanation is that the survey

respondent did not know specifically where their students went after graduation, but

had a general idea that they went into the workforce. Because these schools tend to 

be vocational and technical colleges, one motivation for keeping good records of the 

post-graduation employment of their students is that is a major marketing tool for the

programs. 

Comparison of CORE study with IPEDS

The small number of participants in this survey limited the analysis which could be done 

so, an analysis of the composition of programs in the IPEDS was undertaken. A 

comparisons showed that the CORE survey respondents had only a moderate overlap 

with the schools in the IPEDS, i.e., only 9 of the 13 from this study were included in 

IPEDS. More importantly, IPEDS listings included 83 departments or programs that 

might have a marine focus, but it will require further investigation to determine which 

are primarily marine and which are predominately freshwater-focused. The table below

summarizes the distribution of fields among institutions within the IPEDS that should be 

considered in future studies on community college programs in the ocean sciences. 

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Table 7-2: Number and percent of marine and aquatic programs in IPEDS 

Field of Study at IPEDS schools 

(9 of the 12 schools in this study are included in the 

numbers below right.)

# of 

programs

% of 

total 

Aquaculture Operations and Production Mgmt. 13 16% 

Diver (Professional) 7 8% 

Fishing and Fisheries Sciences and Mgmt. 8 10% 

Marine Maintenance And Ship R 37 epairer 45% 

Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer 7 8% 

Marine/Aquatic Biology 2 2% 

Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering 1 1% 

Oceanography 8 10% 

Total 83 100% 

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CHAPTER EIGHT: FACULTY AND POSTDOCTORATES 

Undergraduate and Graduate Programs

A total of 2562 faculty were reported to be involved in baccalaureate and graduate 

programs at 86 schools. Figure 8-1 illustrates the faculty classification and gender 

distribution. At first glance, the graph could be read to infer that there are barriers to 

female success in senior faculty positions. However, a more appropriate explanation 

would be based on the percentage of doctorates awarded to women in ocean sciences 

during the past 25 years. For example, less than 10% of the doctorates were awarded 

to women in the age group for full professors, but the percentage for assistant 

931 398 288 291 201

90 124 81 65

93

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Full Professor Assoc. Professor Asst. Professor Instructor/Adjunct Other Faculty

Men Women

Figure 8-1: Chart represents 2562 faculty at 86 schools (except two-year colleges). 

"Other Faculty" was not defined in the surveys. The numbers across the top of figure 

indicate percent that each category contributed to the total number of faculty.

40% 19% 16% 15% 10%

Faculty at Four-year Colleges & Graduate Programs

May 2002

professors is on par with the gender ratio of doctorates awarded five to eight years ago 

in ocean sciences (approximately 25-30% women). Because of the format of the 

questions on this survey, CORE was unable to cross tabulate these numbers with field 

of study.

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Ethnicity or race was reported for 2322 faculty members from 83 four-year 

baccalaureate and graduate departments and programs. Of this number, 2033 (88%) 

were white while the ethnicity of the other 289 faculty broke down as follows: 78 

Hispanic, 141 Asian American, 16.5 African American, 6.5 Native American, and 47

Other. 

CORE asked each department not only to provide the numbers of people employed as

faculty, but also the full-time equivalents (FTE) allotted to their department or program. 

Overall, 2227 FTEs were allotted to 86 programs. Most of those (72%) were in tenured 

or tenure-track positions. 

Survey respondents indicated that they have hired 181 new faculty during the 2001-

2002 school year. Fifty-three percent of these positions are tenure-track appointments. 

In addition, 52 programs are recruiting 134 new faculty members for the 2002-2003 

academic year. The majority (75%) of those openings are for tenure-track positions. 

Table 8-1: Summary of the distribution of faculty among types of programs 

surveyed for our study. 

Highest Degree 

Offered by Program 

# Dept. & 

Programs 

# Faculty 

Associate or 

Certificate 

11 93

Baccalaureate 

Courses 

7 83

Baccalaureate 

Degrees 

17 355

Baccalaureate 

courses and graduate

degrees 

10 284

Both baccalaureate 

and graduate degrees

25 1007

Graduate Degrees 23 765

Column totals: 93 2587

Table 8-1 classifies institutions based on the highest degree offered and provides the 

numbers of programs and faculty in each classification. Data from eight institutions 

were not included in this table because they did not also answer the surveys on 

undergraduate and/or graduate programs. Of the 93 programs included in the table 

above, 15 do not offer tenure to their faculty. About half the schools without tenure

are two-year (community) colleges. 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 38 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

One commonly held belief in the ocean sciences community is that the ocean sciences 

are primarily graduate fields of study. However, this study found there are almost as 

many programs offering baccalaureate degrees as graduate degrees (Table 8-1). In 

addition, 1,200 students received baccalaureate degrees in ocean sciences or related 

fields in the 2001-2002 school year compared to 800 graduate degrees awarded 

(Chapter 5 & 6). Therefore, undergraduate students and the faculty that teach them 

are a significant part of the academic ocean sciences. 

In spite of this contradiction with respect to the broadly defined community, it should 

be noted that certain sub-fields dominate one educational level and not the other. For 

example, physical oceanography and marine geology and geophysics are studied 

primarily in graduate school while marine transportation and safety is an undergraduate

major. 

Faculty at Two-Year Programs

Because two-year programs have a different structure than baccalaureate and graduate 

programs, their faculty categories were defined differently. Tenure was available at a 

few institutions and tenured faculty comprised less than one-tenth of the permanent 

positions (Figure 8-2). Many faculty were classified as part-time temporary although 

the majority were in full-time, permanent positions that were not tenured (Figure 8-2). 

Gender of the two-year faculty was 20% women, 80% men. Unfortunately, the 

response rate on the question about ethnicity and race of the faculty from these 

programs was too low to provide reliable information. 

45

4 25

2 10

7

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

permanent (50.25 FTE) tenure track (5 FTE) part-time temp. (25.25 FTE)

women

men

Faculty of Two-Year Programs 

May 2002

Figure 8-2: Eleven programs provided gender and faculty classification for 93 faculty.

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 39 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

With respect to part-time, temporary faculty the ratio of the number of these positions 

(35) to the number of full-time equivalents (25) is almost 1:1. Because of the part-time 

nature of the position, we would ordinarily expect to see a ratio of 2:1 or 3:1. 

Temporary, part-time faculty positions accounted for half (15 out of 29) new hires for 

the 2000-2001 school year. The remainder were primarily for tenure-track positions. 

Postdoctorates

The faculty survey also requested information on postdoctoral positions. Fifty-nine 

programs reported 561 postdoctoral researchers in residence as of May 2002. This

group of researchers can be characterized as follows: 

♦ Fifty-nine programs reported 374 (67.3%) of their postdoctorates were men; 185 

(33.1%) were women. This ratio of men to women is approximately equal to the 

ratio found among assistant professors. In addition, recently released data from the 

National Science Foundation on earned doctorates during 2000-2001 show a similar 

figure (32.7%) for women earning ocean science-related degrees. 

♦ Fifty-eight programs provided citizenship data on their postdoctoral researchers. 

Individuals were almost evenly split with 298 foreign citizens and 256 U.S. citizens. 

♦ Thirty-one programs provided data on the ethnicity and race of the postdoctorates 

who were U.S. citizens (155). Of those positions, 6% (9) were not white. 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 40 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

CHAPTER NINE: CONCLUSION 

This study clearly supports the premise that there is an exceptionally high level of 

diversity within the academic ocean sciences community. The community is broad, 

encompassing the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, geology, ocean and coastal 

engineering, marine policy, and resource management; and it is diverse in its depth, 

educating students at all levels of higher education from community college to graduate 

school. 

There is strength in that diversity. The academic ocean sciences community has built a 

strong base capable of reaching out to other disciplines, forging unique partnerships, 

and adapting to address emerging national issues. Whether it is ocean engineers who 

will design the next generation of naval vessels, physical oceanographers who will 

increase our understanding of global climate change, marine biologists who will use 

sound science to better manage our nation’s fisheries, or marine technicians who will 

operate and maintain an integrated ocean observing system, graduates in the ocean 

sciences are poised to provide the scientific information and support necessary to form 

the basis of sound public policy. 

Despite the diversity of marine disciplines, large segments of the U.S. population are 

under-represented in the ocean sciences. The majority of undergraduate and advanced 

degrees awarded in the ocean sciences and related fields go to men. Men received 

95% of the associates degrees and certificates, 57% of the masters degrees and 63% 

of the doctoral degrees awarded during the 2000-2001 academic year. In addition, the 

survey reveals a lack of racial and ethnic diversity among degree recipients. A 

disproportionate share of advanced degrees are awarded to white U.S. citizens. In fact, 

of the advanced degrees awarded to U.S citizens, only about 12% are awarded to 

ethnic or racial minorities. U.S. citizens are the majority of the degree recipients in 

ocean-related fields at community college programs and graduate programs. The 

community college graduates had the lowest proportion (6%) of foreign students while 

doctoral graduates had the highest level (33%). 

With respect to research funding and personnel, the national investment in the ocean 

sciences is substantial, reflecting their important role in national security, environmental 

prediction and marine resource management. The institutions that participated in this 

study received almost $932 million in the 2002 academic year. 

The federal government is the primary source of research support, providing almost 

two-thirds of the funds received. About a dozen federal agencies are involved in 

supporting marine research, but the National Science Foundation is the principal source, 

followed by the U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A 

comparison of the budgets of a subset of large institutions for the 1997 and 2002 

academic years suggests that this critical federal support may have eroded over that 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 41 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

five-year period. The 2001-2002 numbers are about $23 million or about 6.8% lower 

than in 1996-1997, despite a slight increase in NSF’s funding9

. While the ocean 

sciences budgets of a number of agencies drop from the 1996-1997 academic year to 2001-

2002, the largest decrease, almost 26%, was in the budget of the U.S. Navy. Despite 

the concerns raised by this analysis, there also are some positive indications. A closer 

examination of the growth in funds that did not fit into a single agency category 

suggests growth in the use of partnerships to make the most efficient use of available 

dollars and a possible broadening of the funding base to include non-traditional 

sources. 

Findings such as these provide an important snapshot of the ocean sciences community 

today; illustrating the community’s strengths and highlighting areas where efforts must 

be concentrated in order to address current shortcomings. This survey will in fact

become a useful basis of comparison on which to measure the continuing health of 

community. Therefore, collection of statistics similar to those covered by this study 

should continue with a few adjustments to the current format of questions. 

In addition, there is one critical component to the U.S. infrastructure supporting marine 

research, management and education that bears closer inspection through future 

studies—the U.S. ocean-related workforce. 

Some questions that might be studied within this broad area include: 

• What degrees are required for various jobs and what level of education is desired? 

• Is holding degree in ocean sciences an impediment to finding jobs in other fields? 

• Are we educating our students for the diversity of jobs that are available? 

Furthermore, are our formal educational programs flexible enough to meet the 

changing workforce needs in the ocean sciences and related fields? 

Finally, it will be important to begin tracking retirement and hiring in ocean sciencerelated job sectors. No reliable numbers on this segment of the U.S. workforce exist 

and the ocean sciences community, broadly defined, is small enough that the estimates 

which do exist are probably spurious because they are based on small sample sizes 

within a subset of the entire U.S. science and engineering workforce. 

 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 42 

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9

 Funding numbers are nominal and do not reflect changes due to inflation. 
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

APPENDIX A: Institutions and Programs Surveyed in Study 

A total of 148 departments at 139 institutions were solicited to provide their information

on various aspects of undergraduate and graduate education, research and research 

facilities. The overall response rate was determined from the number of surveys 

distributed (489) and the number returned (336). Shading within each row indicates 

which surveys were returned by each department or program. If an entire row is 

shaded, no surveys were returned to CORE. 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

Alaska Vocational 

Technical Center S 2 Year College Survey

Alexandria 

Technical College S 2 Year College Survey

Auburn University

Fisheries and 

Allied Aquaculture 

Department 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Battelle S Funding and 

Facilities 

Bellingham 

Technical College 

Fisheries 

Technology

Program 

S 2 Year College 

Survey

Bigelow Laboratory

for Ocean

Sciences 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Boston University Marine Biological 

Laboratory

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Brown University

Geological 

Sciences 

Department 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

California Maritime 

Academy

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

California State 

University

Moss Landing 

Marine 

Laboratories 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

California State 

University, 

Monterey Bay 

Earth Systems 

Sciences 

Department 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Cape Fear 

Community

College 

Department of 

Marine Technology

and Environmental 

Science 

Technology

SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Chapman School

of Seamanship SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Clatsop 

Community

College 

Maritime Science

Department SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 43 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

College of 

Charleston 

Grice Marine 

Laboratory

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

College of 

Oceaneering SR 2 Year College 

Survey

College of the 

Atlantic SR FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

College of William 

and Mary

Virginia Institute of 

Marine Science SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Columbia 

University

Lamont-Doherty

Earth Observatory 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Cornell University Shoals Marine 

Laboratory

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Dauphin Island 

Sea Lab 

Marine 

Environmental 

Sciences 

Consortium 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Divers Institute of 

Technology

SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Duke University

Division of Earth 

and Ocean 

Sciences 

SR Undergraduat

e Programs 

Faculty

Workforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

Duke University Marine Laboratory S Funding and 

Facilities 

Faculty

Workforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

East Carolina 

University

Diving & Water 

Safety

SR Funding and Facilities

East Carolina 

University

Ph.D. Program in

Coastal Resources 

Management 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Eckerd College S Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Florida Atlantic 

University

Department of 

Ocean Engineering SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Florida Institute of

Oceanography 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Florida Institute of

Technology

Department of 

Marine & 

Environmental 

Systems, College 

of Engineering 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Florida Keys

Community

College 

Marine Biology

Technology

Program 

S 2 Year College 

Survey

Florida State 

University

Department of 

Oceanography 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Fullerton College SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Georgia Institute of 

Technology

School of Earth 

and Atmospheric 

Sciences 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 44 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

Gray's Harbor

College S 2 Year College Survey

Harbor Branch 

Oceanographic 

Institution 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Harvard University

Division of 

Engineering and 

Applied Sciences 

(DEAS) 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Hillsborough 

Community

College 

Aquaculture 

Program SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Hofstra University Biology

Department SR Faculty

Workforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Hofstra University Hofstra University 

Marine Laboratory

S Funding and 

Facilities 

Honolulu 

Community

College 

SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Hubbs Sea World 

Research Institute S Funding and Facilities 

Humboldt State 

University

Department of 

Fisheries Biology SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Indian River 

Community

College 

SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Johns Hopkins 

University

Applied Physics 

Laboratory

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

We received a 

letter explaining 

they offer 

Ocean Physics 

option only

which no one is 

pursuing at this 

time. 

Johns Hopkins 

University

Department of 

Earth and 

Planetary Sciences 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Long Island 

University

Southampton 

College S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Louisiana State 

University

Dept. of 

Oceanography and 

Coastal Studies 

(includes:Coastal 

Studies Institute, 

Coastal Ecology

Institute, Coastal 

Fisheries Institute, 

and Wetlands 

Institute) 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Louisiana 

Universities Marine 

Consortium 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 45 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

Maine Maritime 

Academy

Corning School of

Ocean Studies R Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Maine Maritime 

Academy

Engineering 

Department S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Maine Maritime 

Academy

Gradute Studies S Graduate 

Programs 

Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Massachusetts 

Institute of 

Technology

Earth, Atmospheric 

& Planetary

Sciences 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Massachusetts 

Institute of 

Technology

MIT/WHOI Joint 

Program on

Oceanography 

SR Graduate 

Programs 

Massachusetts 

Institute of 

Technology

Ocean Engineering SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Massachusetts 

Maritime Academy

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Medial University 

of South Carolina 

Marine 

Biomedicine & 

Environmental 

Sciences 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Miami Dade 

Community

College 

South Florida 

Marine Institute S 2 Year College Survey

Millersville 

University

School of Science 

and Mathmatics SR Faculty

Workforce 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Mississippi State 

University

NSF Engineering

Research Center at 

Stennis Space 

Center 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Monterey Bay 

Aquarium 

Research Institute 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Monterey

Peninsula College SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Mote Marine 

Laboratory

R Funding and 

Facilities 

Mount Holyoke 

College 

Department of 

Earth and 

Environmental 

Studies 

SR Undergraduat

e Programs 

Faculty

Workforce 

Naval 

Postgraduate 

School 

Department of 

Oceanography 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

North Carolina 

State University

Department of 

Marine, Earth, & 

Atmospheric 

Sciences 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Northeastern 

Illinois University

Department of 

Earth Science S FacultyWorkforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Northwestern 

Michigan College 

Great Lakes 

Maritime Academy

S 2 Year College 

Survey

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 46 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

Nova Southeastern 

University

Oceanographic 

Center 

Institute of Marine

& Coastal Studies SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Ohio State 

University

F.T. Stone 

Laboratory

SR Faculty Workforce Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Old Dominion 

University

Department of 

Ocean, Earth and 

Atmospheric 

Science 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Oregon State 

University

College of Oceanic 

& Atmospheric 

Sciences 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Peninsula College 

Center for 

Aquaculture 

Training 

S 2 Year College 

Survey

Peninsula College 

Department of 

Fisheries 

Technology

SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Pennsylvania State 

University

College of Earth 

and Mineral 

Sciences 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Pennsylvania State 

University

Graduate Program 

in Acoustics S Graduate Programs 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Faculty

Workforce 

Princeton 

University

Department of 

Geosciences SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Queens College

School of Earth & 

Environmental 

Sciences 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Richard Stockton 

College of New

Jersey

Natural Sciences 

and Math 

Department 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Roger Williams 

University

Feinstein College 

of Arts and Science SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Rutgers, The State 

University of New

Jersey

Institute of Marine

& Coastal Sciences SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Salem State 

College 

Biology

Department SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

San Francisco 

State University

Romberg Tiburon

Center for 

Environmental 

Studies 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Faculty

Workforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Santa Barbara City

College 

Marine Diving 

Technology

Department 

S 2 Year College 

Survey

Savannah State 

University

Natural Sciences 

and Mathematics SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Sea Education 

Association SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Seattle Central 

Community

College 

Seattle Maritime 

Academy

SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 47 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

Shippensburg 

University

Department of 

Geography and 

Earth Science 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Skidaway Institute 

of Oceanography 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Southern California 

Marine Institute SR Funding and Facilities 

Southern Maine 

Technical College 

Department of 

Applied Marine 

Biology & 

Oceanography and 

Environmental 

Technology

SR 2 Year College 

Survey

Stanford University Hopkins Marine 

Station SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

State University of 

New York Maritime College S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

State University of 

New York - 

Morrisville 

Department of 

Aquaculture and 

Aquatic Science

S 2 Year College 

Survey

Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs and 

Undergraduate

Programs 

State University of 

New York, Stony 

Brook 

Marine Sciences 

Research Center SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Stevens Institute of 

Technology

Davidson 

Laboratory

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Texas A&M 

University at

Galveston 

Marine Engineering 

Technology,Texas 

A&M Maritime 

Academy

SR Faculty Workforce Undergraduate Programs 

Texas A&M 

University at

Galveston 

Marine Transportation,Texas 

A&M Maritime 

Academy

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Texas A&M 

University, College 

Station 

Department of 

Oceanography 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Texas A&M 

University-Corpus 

Christi 

Center for Coastal 

Studies SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Texas A&MCorpus Christi Mariculture 

Program SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

U.S. Coast Guard 

Academy

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

U.S. Merchant 

Marine Academy 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

U.S. Naval 

Academy

Department of 

Oceanography 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

U.S. Naval 

Academy

Naval Architecture

and Ocean 

Engineering 

Department 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 48 

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U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

University of

Alaska Fairbanks 

School of Fisheries 

and Ocean 

Sciences 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Arizona 

Department of 

Ecology and 

Evolutionary

Biology

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

California, Berkeley

College of 

Engineering S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

California, Davis 

Animal Science 

Department S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

California, Davis 

Bodega Marine 

Laboratory

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

University of

California, Irvine 

Earth System 

Science SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

California, Los 

Angeles 

Marine Science 

Center, 

Department of 

Organismic 

Biology, Ecology 

and Evolution 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

California, San 

Diego 

Scripps Institution 

of Oceanography 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Faculty

Workforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

California, Santa 

Barbara 

Marine Science 

Institute S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

California, Santa 

Cruz 

Institute of Marine

Sciences SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Chicago 

Department of 

Geophysical 

Sciences 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Connecticut-Avery 

Point, Marine 

Sciences Program 

Marine Sciences 

Program SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Delaware 

Graduate College

of Marine Studies SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Florida 

Civil and Coastal 

Engineering 

Department 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Georgia 

Department of 

Marine Sciences SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of Guam

Marine Laboratory/ 

Water and Energy

Research Inst. 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Hawaii 

School of Ocean 

and Earth Science 

and Technology 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of Maine School of Marine 

Science SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 49 

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

University of

Maryland 

Aquatic 

Pathobiology

Center, 

Department of 

Veterinary 

Medicine 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Maryland 

Center for 

Environmental 

Science 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

MassachusettsDartmouth 

Graduate School of 

Marine Sciences 

and Technology, 

University of

MassachusettsDartmouth 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

University of Miami 

Marine and 

Atmospheric 

Science Program

SR Undergraduat

e Programs 

University of Miami 

Rosenstiel School 

of Marine and 

Atmospheric 

Science 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Faculty

Workforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

University of New

England 

Department of 

Biological Sciences S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of New

England 

Department of 

Environmental 

Studies 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of New

Hampshire Marine Program SR FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of New

Orleans 

School of Naval 

Architecture and 

Marine Engineering 

S Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of North 

Carolina at Chapel 

Hill 

Department of 

Marine Sciences SR FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of North 

Carolina at 

Wilmington 

Department of 

Physics and 

Physical 

Oceanography 

SR Undergraduat

e Programs 

University of North 

Carolina at 

Wilmington 

Education Center

for Marine Studies SR Graduate 

Programs 

University of North 

Carolina, 

Wilmington 

Center for Marine

Science SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

University of

Northern Colorado

Earth Science 

Department S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Oregon 

Oregon Institute of 

Marine Biology

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Puerto Rico 

Department of 

Marine Sciences 

(DMS), 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 50 

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

University of

Rhode Island 

Department of 

Fisheries, Animal, 

and Veterinary 

Science 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Rhode Island 

Department of 

Marine Affairs SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Rhode Island 

Department of 

Ocean Engineering SR FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Rhode Island 

Graduate School of 

Oceanography 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

University of San

Diego 

Marine and 

Environmental 

Studies Program

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of South 

Carolina 

Belle W. Baruch 

Institute SR Funding and Facilities

University of South 

Carolina 

The Marine 

Science Program SR Faculty

Workforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

University of South 

Florida 

College of Marine

Science SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Southern California 

Wrigley Institute for

Environmental 

Studies 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Southern 

Mississippi 

College of Marine

Sciences SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of Texas 

at Austin 

Institute for 

Geophysics SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of Texas 

at Austin 

Marine Science 

Institute and 

Department of 

Marine Science 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of the 

Virgin Islands 

Marine Science 

Center S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

University of

Virginia 

Center for Oceans 

Law and Policy

S Faculty

Workforce 

Graduate 

Programs 

University of

Washington 

Applied Physics 

Lab SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Washington 

School of Aquatic 

& Fishery Sciences SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Washington 

School of Marine 

Affairs SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Washington 

School of 

Oceanography 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Wisconsin 

 Milwaukee Great 

Lakes Wisconsin

Aquatic 

Technology and 

Environmental 

Research 

(WATER) Institute 

SR Funding and 

Facilities 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 51 

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Institution Program Sent=S 

Received=R Survey(s) Sent to Program 

University of

Wisconsin-Madison 

Department of 

Atmospheric & 

Oceanic Sciences, 

Center for Climate 

Research 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

University of

Wisconsin-Madison 

Limnology and 

Marine Science 

Program 

SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Webb Institute of 

Naval Architecture SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Wesleyan 

University S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Undergraduat

e Programs 

Western 

Washington 

University

Shannon Point 

Marine Center SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Wilkes University Marine Science 

Consortium SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Williams CollegeMystic Seaport Marine Science 

Department S FacultyWorkforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Undergraduate

Programs 

Woods Hole 

Oceanographic 

Institution 

Academic 

Programs SR Faculty

Workforce 

Funding and 

Facilities 

Graduate 

Programs 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 52 

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Appendix B 

The following enclosed surveys were sent to all survey participants: 

• Funding and Facilities Survey of Ocean Sciences Departments and Institutions 

• Graduate Program Survey of Ocean Sciences Departments and Institutions 

• Undergraduate Program Survey of Ocean Sciences Departments and Institutions 

• Two-Year College Survey of Ocean Sciences Programs and Departments 

• Faculty Workforce Survey of Ocean Sciences Programs 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 53 

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
Funding and Facilities Survey of

Ocean Sciences Departments and Institutions

Sponsored by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education

1. Contact information

Name of institution:

Name of department:

Form completed by (your name):

Your title:

Your email address:

2. Does your institution own or operate any non-UNOLS vessels or facilities?

 Examples of vessels and facilities include: AUVs, boats and ships, clean rooms,

 field laboratories, hyberbaric chambers, mass spectrometers, ROVs, supercomputers,

 and manned submersibles.

 Note: Do not include facilities that students or faculty use at another

 institution or facility.

_____No (if no non-UNOLS, please skip to Question 5)

_____ Yes

3. Please indicate who owns your institution’s non-UNOLS vessel or facility,

 the age of each, and if there is planning underway to replace them:

Vessel or Facility

 (please list type)

Primary

Owner

Age of

vessel

or

facility

Plan

underway

to replace?

(select one)

Year

when

replacement

planned

1. Y N

2. Y N

3. Y N

4. Y N

5. Y N

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 54

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
4. If there is no plan to replace a current non-UNOLS vessel and/or facility that

 needs replacement , briefly explain why:

5. List the dollar amount of support that your department received in the academic

year 2001-02 for research support from each of the following sources:

Source of research support

Dollar amount of support

(to nearest $1000)

Internal support (e.g., from your institution) $ ______

State funds $ ______

Funds from Private Corporations $ ______

Funds from Private Foundations $ ______

Federal:

 Department of Energy $ ______

 Department of Interior Total: $ ______

 MMS $ ______

 USGS $ ______

 EPA $ ______

 NASA $ ______

 Navy $ ______

 Other DoD $ ______

 NOAA $ ______

 NSF $ ______

 Other Federal (please specify)

 ________________________________________

$ ______

 Other Federal (please specify)

 ________________________________________

$ ______

Other (Non-Federal) (please specify)

 ________________________________________

$ ______

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 55

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
6. How many people in each of the following categories are supported in part or

 whole by the research dollars listed in Question 5?

Number

supported

Position

_______ Professors

_______ Postdoctorates

_______ Research Staff

_______ Technicians (lab & shipboard)

_______ Graduate students

_______ Other staff (non-clerical)

(please specify) ___________________

7. If necessary, please describe any unique circumstances at your institution that

 would help us to better understand your responses.

Thank you for your participation!

Please save a copy of this survey for your records and email it back to

sschoedinger@coreocean.org or print and fax it to (202) 986-5072.

Contact Sarah Schoedinger at CORE with any questions at (202) 332-0063, ext. 221.

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 56

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
Graduate Program Survey of

Ocean Sciences Departments and Institutions

Sponsored by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education

1. Contact information

Name of institution:

Name of department:

Form completed by (your name):

Your title:

Your email address:

2. Does your department offer graduate degrees (Master’s or Ph.D.)?

___ Yes

___ No (if no graduate degrees offered, please stop here and return 

 this form so that we may remove you from our mailing list.)

3. Please indicate the number of graduate applications your department received

 and the number of offers made for fall enrollment over each of the last two 

 academic years:

For enrollment in:

Number of 

graduate applications:

Number of 

admission offers:

Fall 2001

Fall 2002

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 57

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
4. Please indicate the number of first-year graduate student enrollments (or offers 

 accepted) for Fall 2001 in each of the following areas. Specify the total number, 

 the number of men, and the number of women:

Number of 

1

st year 

enrollments

Fall 2001

Number of 1st

year 

enrollments 

who were men

Number of 1st

year enrollments 

who were 

women

Marine Biology and/or

Biological Oceanography

= +

Marine Chemistry and/or

Chemical Oceanography

= +

Marine Geology & 

Geophysics

= +

Physical

Oceanography

= +

Ocean Engineering 

(incl. Applied Ocean 

Physics)

= +

Marine Policy

(incl. Marine Affairs & 

Maritime/Admiralty Law)

= +

Fishery

Sciences

= +

Aquaculture

(incl. Mariculture)

= +

Coastal & Estuarine 

Studies

= +

Other Ocean Science

(please specify) 

_____________________

= +

TOTAL NUMBER

(Sum of Column)

4a. How many of your total Fall 2001 first-year enrollments (response entered for 

 total in box above, Question 4) were:

 U.S. Citizens: Foreign Citizens:

 

Report racial breakdown for US citizens only

White ____ Asian-American ____ African-American ____ 

Hispanic ____ Native American ____ Other ____

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 58

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
5. Please indicate the number of graduate students currently in residence in each of 

 the following areas as of last Fall 2001. Specify the total number, the number of 

 men, and the number of women:

Total

number of 

grad students 

in residence

Number of 

grad 

students who 

are men

Number of 

grad 

students who 

are women

Marine Biology and/or 

Biological Oceanography

= +

Marine Chemistry and/or

Chemical Oceanography

= +

Marine Geology & 

Geophysics

= +

Physical

Oceanography

= +

Ocean Engineering 

(incl. Applied Ocean Physics)

= +

Marine Policy

(incl. Marine Affairs & 

Maritime/Admiralty Law)

= +

Fishery

Sciences

= +

Aquaculture

(incl. Mariculture)

= +

Coastal & Estuarine

Studies

= +

Other Ocean Science

(please specify)

________________________

= +

TOTAL NUMBER

(Sum of Column)

5a. How many of your total graduate students in residence (Fall 2001) (response 

 entered for total in box above, Question 5) are:

 U.S. Citizens: Foreign Citizens: 

Report racial breakdown for US citizens only

White ____ Asian-American ____ African-American ____ 

Hispanic ____ Native American ____ Other ____

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 59

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
6. Please indicate the number of your total graduate students in residence 

 (Fall 2001) who were primarily supported in each of the following ways. 

 (Note: Every student should be counted one time. If a student is supported multiple 

 ways, please count him/her only one time by his/her primary source of support)

Source of Support

Total number of 

graduate students 

receiving support

Teaching Assistantship

Research Assistantship

Fellowship

Traineeship

Other sources of support

Not receiving support

6a. What is the most common full-time equivalent (FTE) for graduate 

 students with Teaching Assistantships?

_____ FTE for Teaching Assistantships

6b. What is the average annual salary for Teaching Assistants referenced

 in item 6a?

$__________ per year for Teaching Assistants

6c. What is the most common full-time equivalent (FTE) for graduate 

 students with Research Assistantships?

_____ FTE for Research Assistantships

6d. What is the average annual salary for Research Assistants referenced

 in item 6c?

$__________ per year for Research Assistants

7. Please check all that apply about your department’s graduate program

___ Master’s is the highest degree offered

___ Master’s is required en route to a PhD

___ Master’s is optional en route to a PhD

___ We have a separate Master’s program parallel to our PhD program

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 60

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
8. How many total Master’s degrees were granted in each of the following areas 

 between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001? Specify the total number, the number 

 of men, and the number of women graduates. 

Total number 

of Master’s 

awarded

July 00-June 01

Number of 

Master’s 

awarded to 

men

Number of 

Master’s 

awarded to 

women

Marine Biology and/or

Biological Oceanography

= +

Marine Chemistry and/or

Chemical Oceanography

= +

Marine Geology & 

Geophysics

= +

Physical

Oceanography

= +

Ocean Engineering 

(incl. Applied Ocean Physics)

= +

Marine Policy

(incl. Marine Affairs & 

Maritime/Admiralty Law)

= +

Fishery

Sciences

= +

Aquaculture

(incl. Mariculture)

= +

Coastal & Estuarine

Studies

= +

Other Ocean Science

(please specify) 

________________________

= +

TOTAL NUMBER

(Sum of Column)

8a. How many of your total Master’s recipients (July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001) 

 (response entered for total in box above, Question 8) were:

U.S. Citizens: Foreign Citizens:

Report racial breakdown for US citizens only

White ____ Asian-American ____ African-American ____ 

Hispanic ____ Native American ____ Other ____

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 61

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
9. Of those Master’s recipients who left your department in between July 1, 2000 

 and June 30, 2001, how many did the following?

Number of 

Master’s recipients

Enrolled in another university (regardless of field of study)

Foreign students who left the USA

Employed in Four-year college or university

Employed in University-Affiliated Research Center

Employed in Federal Agency

Employed in State Agency

Employed in Non-Profit

Employed in Private For-Profit Sector

Other

Don’t know

Note: If your department does not grant Ph.D.s, please stop here and return 

the questionnaire. Thank you.

10. How many total Ph.D.s were granted in each of the following areas 

 between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001? Specify the total number, the 

 number of men, and the number of women graduates. 

Total number of 

Ph.D.s awarded

July 00 to June 01

Number of 

Ph.D.s awarded 

to men

Number of 

Ph.D.s awarded 

to women

Marine Biology and/or 

Biological Oceanography

 = +

Marine Chemistry and/or

Chemical Oceanography

= +

Marine Geology & 

Geophysics

= +

Physical Oceanography = +

Ocean Engineering (incl. 

Applied Ocean Physics)

= +

Marine Policy

(incl. Marine Affairs & 

Maritime/Admiralty Law)

= +

Fishery Sciences = +

Aquaculture

(incl. Mariculture)

= +

Coastal & Estuarine 

Studies

= +

Other Ocean Science 

(please specify) 

_______________________

= +

TOTAL NUMBER

(Sum of Column)

Use this number to respond to next item.

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 62

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
10a. How many of your total Ph.D. recipients (July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001) 

 (response entered for total in box on previous page, Question 10) were:

U.S. Citizens: Foreign Citizens:

Report racial breakdown for US citizens only

White ____ Asian-American ____ African-American ____ 

Hispanic ____ Native American ____ Other ____

11. Of those Ph.D. recipients who left your department in between July 1, 2000 

 and June 30, 2001, how many did the following?

Number of 

Ph.D. recipients

Foreign students who left the USA

Employed in Four-year college or university

Employed in University-Affiliated Research Center

Employed in Federal Agency

Employed in State Agency

Employed in Non-Profit

Employed in Private For-Profit Sector

Other

Don’t know

Thank you for your participation!

Please save a copy of this survey for your records and email it back to 

sschoedinger@coreocean.org or print and fax it to (202) 986-5072.

Contact Sarah Schoedinger at CORE with any questions at (202) 332-0063, ext. 221.

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 63

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
Undergraduate Program Survey of

Ocean Sciences Departments and Institutions

Sponsored by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education

1. Contact information

Name of institution:

Name of department:

Form completed by (your name):

Your title:

Your email address:

2. Does your department offer undergraduate courses?

___ Yes, we offer undergraduate courses and a bachelor’s degree

___ Yes, we offer undergraduate courses but no bachelor’s degree (skip to item 4)

___ No (if no undergraduate courses offered, please stop here and return this form 

 so that we may remove you from our undergraduate program mailing list.)

3. Please indicate the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in each of the 

 following areas last year (July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001). Specify the total 

 number, the number awarded to men, and the number awarded to women:

Subject area

Total number 

of bachelor’s 

awarded

Jul 00 - Jun 01

Number of 

bachelor’s 

awarded to 

men

Number of 

bachelor’s 

awarded to 

women

Aquaculture 

(incl. Fisheries Tech & Mariculture)

 = +

Fishery Science & Management = +

Marine & Coastal Zone Management = +

Marine Biology 

(incl. Marine Zoology)

= +

Marine/Ocean Engineering = +

Marine Mechanics = +

Marine Science 

(incl. Oceanography & Ocean Studies)

= +

Marine Technology = +

Marine Transportation & Safety = +

Other (please 

specify)_____________________________

= +

TOTAL NUMBER

(Sum of Column)

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 64

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
4. Does your department offer a marine-related minor?

___ No (If no, please skip to Question 5)

___ Yes

4a. How many marine-related minors did your department award during the

 last academic year, July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001?

Number of undergraduate minors,

July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001: ______

5. Please tell us how many students took their first term of introductory level 

 Ocean Science (Oceanography 101 or equivalent) in your department in the past 

 academic year, 2001 to 2002. 

 (To avoid double counting students, please indicate the number of students enrolled in 

 the fall semester if the course is more than one semester in length)

Number enrolled in year-long course ______ 

Fall semester one-term course ______ 

Spring semester one-term course ______ 

6. Of the students who received bachelor’s degrees from your department or 

 institution between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001, how many did each of the 

 following immediately after graduation:

Number of bachelor’s 

recipients

Graduate school in Ocean Science-related field

Graduate school in non-Ocean Science-related field 

Employed as K-12 teacher

Employed in the private sector 

Active military

Civilian government total: 

 Federal government

 State/local government 

Other

Don’t know 

Thank you for your participation!

Please save a copy of this survey for your records and email it back to 

sschoedinger@coreocean.org or print and fax it to (202) 986-5072. 

Contact Sarah Schoedinger at CORE with any questions at (202) 332-0063, ext. 221.

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 65

This report contains proprietary information of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
Two-Year College Survey of

Ocean Sciences Programs and Departments

Sponsored by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education

1. Contact information

Name of institution:

Name of department or program:

Form completed by (your name):

Your title:

Your email address:

2. How many students took their first term of introductory-level ocean science 

 (Oceanography 101 or equivalent) in your program during the academic year 

 2001-02? 

 (To avoid double counting students, please indicate the number of students enrolled in 

 the fall semester if the course is more than one semester in length)

Number enrolled in year-long course ______ 

Fall semester one-term course ______ 

Spring semester one-term course ______ 

3. Between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002, how many students were enrolled in

 ocean science or marine -related courses offered by your program/department?

Number enrolled in year-long course ______ 

Fall semester one-term course ______ 

Spring semester one-term course ______ 

4. Of those students enrolled (response to item 3), how many were employed and 

 taking courses for professional development?

 Please indicate the number of students and not the percent of total students.

Number of students taking one or more

ocean science or marine-related courses 

for professional development between 

July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002: ______ 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 66

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
5. Does your department or program offer an Associate’s degree or Certificate in 

 any marine, ocean, or maritime-related field? 

____ Yes

____ No (if no Associates degrees or Certificates are offered, please stop here 

 and return the form so that we may remove you from our Two-Year 

 College mailing list.)

6. Please indicate the number of associate’s degrees or certificates awarded in each 

 of the following areas last year (July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001). Specify the total 

 number, the number awarded to men, and the number awarded to women:

Total number 

of graduates 

Jul 00 - Jun 01

Number 

of men 

graduates

Number 

of women 

graduates

Aquaculture (incl. Fisheries Technology 

and Mariculture)

 = +

Boatbuilding/Shipbuilding = +

Commercial Diving = +

Fishery Science and Management = +

Marine Biology (incl. Marine Zoology) = +

Marine/Ocean Engineering = +

Marine Mechanics = +

Marine Science (incl. Oceanography and 

Ocean Studies)

= +

Marine Technology = +

Marine Transportation and Safety = +

Other (please 

specify)_________________________

= +

TOTAL NUMBER

(Sum of Column)

 

6a. How many of your total 2000-01 graduates (response entered for total in box 

 above, Question 10) were:

 U.S. Citizens: Foreign Citizens:

 

 Report racial breakdown for US citizens only 

 White ____ Asian-American ____ African-American ____ 

 Hispanic ____ Native American ____ Other ____

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 67

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7. Of the students who graduated from your department between July 1, 2000 and

 June 30, 2001, how many:

Number of

students

Transferred to a 4-year college or university

Went directly into the workforce

 How many work in Ocean Science-related job?

Other

Don’t know

8. Please indicate the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty that your 

 department has allotted in each of the following positions as of May 1, 2002.

Total FTE allotted

to your department

(May 1, 2002)

Tenured or Permanent Positions

Tenure-Track Positions

Temporary Positions, Full-Time

Temporary Positions, Part-Time

9. Please indicate the number of faculty in your department on May 1, 2002.

 Specify the number of men and the number of women. 

 Please count the number of people, not the FTE

Number of 

faculty who are 

men

Number of 

faculty who are 

women

Tenured or Permanent Positions

Tenure-Track Positions

Temporary Positions, Full-Time

Temporary Positions, Part-Time

9a. How many of your faculty are:

White ____ Asian-American ____ African-American ____ 

Hispanic ____ Native American ____ Other ____

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10. Not counting routine contract renewals, did you hire any new faculty members 

 (tenured, tenure -track, temporary, part-time, or non-tenure-track permanent) 

 starting in the academic year 2001-02?

____ No

____ Yes

11. Have you recruited or are you recruiting for faculty positions (not part-time) for 

 the 2002-03 academic year?

____ No

____ Yes

12. Has your program received any scientific research support in the academic 

 year 2001-02?

____ No (if no, please stop here and return the questionnaire)

____ Yes

12a. If so, what was the total dollar amount of scientific research support

 (rounded to the nearest $1000)?

$__________

Number 

Hired

Number of Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty _____

Number of Temporary Full-Time Faculty _____

Number of Permanent, Non-Tenure-Track Faculty _____

Number of Part-Time Faculty _____

Number of other faculty positions (non-clerical) _____

Number 

Recruited

Number of Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty _____

Number of Temporary Full-Time Faculty _____

Number of Permanent, Non-Tenure-Track Faculty _____

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12b. List the dollar amount of support that your department received in the 

 academic year 2001-02 for scientific research support from each of the 

 following sources:

Source of research support

Dollar amount of support

(to nearest $1000)

Internal support (e.g., from your institution) $ _______

State funds $ _______

Funds from private corporations $ _______

Funds from private foundations $ _______

Federal: 

 Department of Energy $ _______

 Department of Interior Total: $ _______

 MMS $ _______

 USGS $ _______

 EPA $ _______

 NASA $ _______

 Navy $ _______

 Other DoD $ _______

 NOAA $ _______

 NSF $ _______

 Other Federal (please specify)

 __________________________________________

$ _______

 Other Federal (please specify)

 __________________________________________

$ _______

Other (Non-Federal) (please specify)

 __________________________________________

$ _______

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 70

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13. How many people in each of the following categories are supported in part or 

 whole by the research dollars listed in Question 5?

Number 

supported

Position

______ Instructors

______ Other non-clerical staff 

(please specify) ___________________

______ Students

Thank you for your participation!

Please save a copy of this survey for your records and email it back to 

sschoedinger@coreocean.org or print and fax it to (202) 986-5072.

Contact Sarah Schoedinger at CORE with any questions at (202) 332-0063, ext. 221.

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 71

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Faculty Workforce Survey of

Ocean Sciences Programs

Sponsored by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education

1. Contact information

Name of institution:

Name of department:

Form completed by (your name):

Your title:

Your email address:

2. Which category best describes your institution?

___ Non-Academic Research Institution

___ University or Four-Year College

___ Other (please explain) _______________________________________

3. Does your institution have a tenure system?

____ No

____ Yes

4. Please indicate the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty that your 

 department has allotted in each of the following positions as of May 1, 2002.

Total FTE

allotted to your 

department

(May 1, 2002)

Tenured Positions

Tenure-Track Positions

Non-Tenure-Track, Permanent Positions

Temporary Positions

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 72

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5. Excluding postdocs, please indicate the number of faculty in your department

 on May 1, 2002. Specify the number of men and the number of women faculty

 in each of the following positions. 

 Please count the number of people, not FTE.

Number of 

faculty who are 

men

Number of 

faculty who are 

women

Full Professor

Associate Professor

Assistant Professor

Instructor/Adjunct

Other faculty

5b. How many of your faculty are:

White ____ Asian-American ____ African-American ____ 

Hispanic ____ Native American ____ Other ____

6. Not counting routine contract renewals, did you hire any new faculty members 

 (tenured, tenure-track, temporary, part-time, or non-tenure-track permanent) 

 starting in the academic year 2001-02?

____ No

____ Yes

Number 

Hired

Number of Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty _____

Number of Temporary Full-Time Faculty _____

Number of Permanent, Non-Tenure-Track Faculty _____

Number of Part-Time Faculty _____

Number of other positions Faculty _____

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 73

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
7. Have you recruited or are you recruiting for faculty positions (not part-time) 

 for the 2002-03 academic year?

____ No

____ Yes

8. How many postdoctorates were working for your department (or for faculty in 

 your department) on May 1, 2002? Specify the total number, the number of men, 

 and the number of women postdocs. If there were no postdocs, please enter “0”

Total number of 

postdoctorates

(May 1, 2002)

Number of 

postdocs who are 

men

Number of 

postdocs who are 

women

Number of 

postdoctorates

= +

8a. How many of your total postdoctorates are:

U.S. Citizens: Foreign Citizens:

Report racial breakdown for US citizens only

White ____ Asian-American ____ African-American ____ 

Hispanic ____ Native American ____ Other ____

9. If necessary, please describe any unique circumstances at your institution that 

 would help us to better understand your responses.

Thank you for your participation!

Please save a copy of this survey for your records and email it back to 

sschoedinger@coreocean.org or print and fax it to (202) 986-5072.

Contact Sarah Schoedinger at CORE with any questions at (202) 332-0063, ext. 221.

Number 

Recruited

Number of Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty _____

Number of Temporary Full-Time Faculty _____

Number of Permanent, Non-Tenure-Track Faculty _____

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 74

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields 

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Page 75

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Please do not cite, distribute, or use in publications or presentations until the Commission has issued its final report.

Appendix C 

Additional Tables and Graphs 

Facilities 

Age of Non-UNOLS Underwater Vehicles at 16 Academic Institutions 

Graduate Programs

Graduate Student Support FY 2002 

Two-Year Colleges

Ocean-related Degrees Awarded at Two-Year Colleges 

Gender Distribution of Degrees/Certificates at Two-Year Colleges 

Where Two-Year College Graduates Went After Graduation 

Faculty

Ethnicity/Race of Faculty at Baccalaureate and Graduate Schools 

New Faculty Hires for Baccalaureate & Graduate Programs during 2001-2002 
Age of Non-UNOLS Underwater Vehicles at 16 Academic Institutions

9

4

3

2

1

4

1 1

9876543210

10

< or =5 5<or =10 10< or =15 15> or =20 20> or =25 25> or = 30 30> or = 35 35> or = 40

YEARS

# of Underwater Vehicles

Note-Underwater vehicles includes: AUVs, ATVs, ROVs, and all types of submersibles
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields

Teaching 

Assistantship

10%

Fellowship

13%

Traineeship

1%

Other Sources

8%

Research 

Assistantship

56%

Not Receiving 

Support

12%

Graduate Student Support during Fall 2001

(2673 reported by 46 programs) 
Ocean-related Degrees Awarded at Two-Year Colleges

July 2000-June 2001

n=12 institutions; 595 degrees/certificates
Gender Distribution of Degrees/Certificates at 2-Year Colleges

July 2000-June 2001

N= 10 schools; 595 degrees/certificates awarded

210 167 78 61 21 15

7

4

19

2

0

5 1

2

2

1

0%

80%60%40%20%

100%

Mar. Tech. Comm.

Diving

Mar.Transp.

& Safety

Other Mar.

Mechanics

Shipbuilding Aquaculture Mar. Sci.

% total students per catergory

Women

Men

During 2001-2002 school year, there were no graduates in Marine Biology, Ocean Engineering or Fisheries Science & Management, but that is not an indication that there were no students were enrolled in those fields at 2-year colleges. Numbers in columns indicate numbers of students receiving degrees that year.Within this cohort, 95% of the degrees were awarded to men and 5% were awarded to women. These figures are consistent with IPEDS data. (IPEDS=Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). 

U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields
Where 2-Year College Graduates Went After Graduation

July 2000-June 2001

N=9 schools responding

4%

17%

3% 67%

76%

9%

Transferred to 4-Year

Other

Don't Know

Went into the General Workforce

Went into Ocean Sciences-Related Job

Notes:

Total number of students included in the calculation of percentages 

equals 429. 

There are concerns that the survey respondent misunderstood the 

question because given the technical nature of the degrees and the fact 

that the data are on marine fields, it is surprising to find that so many 

students "went into the general workforce" as opposed to "ocean 

sciences-related" job. Two possible explanations for this are that the 

survey recipient did not apply "ocean sciences-related" as broadly as we 

expected, or most just don't know specifically where their students head 

after school. Given that the general selling point for an associates 

degree or certificate (aside from low cost) is high rate of job placement 

upon completion of degree, most institutions do a pretty good job of 

keeping track of where their graduates go. Therefore, it is more likely 

that the person filling out the survey did not define "ocean-related" as 

broadly as we would. 
White

88%

Asian American

6%

Hispanic

3%

Other Race

2%

African American

1%

Native American

1>%

N= 83 Programs 2322 Total Faculty for which race was reported

Ethnicity/Race of Faculty at Baccalaureate and Graduate Schools 
U.S. Academic Infrastructure in Support of Research and Education in Ocean Sciences and Related Fields

New Faculty Hires for Baccalaureate & Graduate Programs

during 2001-2002

N=57 programs; Total number of New Hires=180.5

# of New Tenured or 

Tenure-track Faculty

53%

# of New 

Permanent, NonTenure Track 

Faculty

16%

# of New Temp Fulltime Faculty

16%

# of New Part-time 

Faculty

12%

# of New Other 

Faculty Positions

3%

Fifty-two programs plan to recruit for 134

new faculty for this academic year 

(2002-2003). Of the 134 faculty positions for

which they are recruiting, 75% are for

tenure or tenure-track positions.