opportunity to travel abroad to foreign ports; the average midshipman travels to eighteen countries during the three-hundred-day training period. This practical training results in an extended academic year that runs from late July to mid-June.
Toward the end of 1st class (senior) year, midshipmen prepare for U.S. Coast Guard exams for a mandatory license as Third Assistant Engineer (steam and motor unlimited HP) or Third Mate (any gross tons, oceans).
== Athletics ==
The USMMA Mariners compete in Division III of the NCAA, as a member of the Skyline Conference in all sports (men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track & field; women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, swimming & diving, track & field, and volleyball) except in football, where they are an associate member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference, and collegiate wrestling, where they are a member of the Centennial Conference. The USMMA was …
