CMA one of best colleges in West

CMA one of best colleges in West
U.S. News and World Report ranks academy in top 5 baccalaureate schools
By TONY BURCHYNS/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 08/23/2008

U.S. News and World Report once again has listed California Maritime Academy on its "America's Best Colleges" rankings, university officials said Friday.

The college ranked fifth among 17 baccalaureate schools in the western United States, second only to the U.S. Air Force Academy among public schools in its category, according to the publication's Web site. The category includes undergraduate colleges in the West that grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines.

"The latest ... survey is valuable as an ongoing independent confirmation that are on the right course," said Cal Maritime President William B. Eisenhardt in a press release. "It is heartening to know that the quality of this institution and its programs is widely noticed and recognized."

The annual college rankings, released Friday, are based on responses from faculty members and deans at more than 1,400 colleges, according to U.S. News and World Report's Web site.

With 850 students, Cal Maritime, located at the foot of the Carquinez Bridge in Vallejo, has undergone major enrollment growth since joining the California State University system a decade ago. The student body has jumped by 80 percent in the last eight years.

The school has also made strides in its academic programs, opening a new technology center, a laboratory and a classroom building. New dorms are currently under construction and school officials are also in the early stages of planning new athletic facilities.

One of seven degree-granting maritime academies in the country, Cal Maritime is the only such school on the West Coast.

"We've worked hard to make ourselves more visible," Eisenhardt said, adding that the admissions staff works year-round to recruit students in the west.

Other outreach efforts include a summer program for high school students from urban school districts.

Cal Maritime offers degrees in business administration, facilities engineering technology, global studies and maritime affairs, marine engineering technology and other maritime fields.

The school ranked sixth last year in U.S. News and World Report's college rankings, Cal Maritime spokesman Doug Webster said.

Additionally, the school's engineering program has also scored well in previous polls, Webster said.

• E-mail Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.