Academics
As Webb Institute proudly boasts: “If you can design a ship, you can design anything.” All graduates of this unique Long Island engineering school receive a fulltuition scholarship and leave with a dual degree in naval architecture and marine engineering, with paid internships required during every academic year. Grads have a 100 percent job placement rate. The curriculum is “intense,” but the academics tie in well with the winter work terms: “Work terms give each student a feel for industry sectors and allow them to make improved career decisions when selecting a first job,” says a student. “You’ll learn something in the classroom and then see it in action.” Students find this incredibly valuable; “not only do you know how things work, you understand why they work.”
Students “are surrounded by ship models, half hulls on the walls, and people who are all interested in ships, boats, cutters, yachts, and anything else that goes in the water.” The professors are “brilliant,” and since they all have practical experience, they are “able to make our education applicable to what we’ll be doing once we graduate.” There are only four classrooms at Webb; desks are in the back, chairs for class are in the front. Students do their homework at their desk in the classroom, surrounded by classmates, and if help is needed on a problem, “all you have to do is look up and ask the room.”
The specialized tools that are made available to students are what “most schools could only dream of buying,” and the level of trust from the staff means students can freely take advantage of such resources as the towing tank and student garage. The student body at Webb functions based on an honor code, creating a “safe and supportive environment,” which “allows our professors to give us take home tests knowing that no one will cheat.” “I fully trust any individual at Webb,” says a student. You also “cannot beat the alumni network here,” which readily helps students find jobs, lodging, and anything else they need.
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