Webb Institute is featured on CNBC!
At this college, every student gets a full-tuition scholarship and a job
- Webb Institute is one of only nine colleges in the country that is completely tuition-free.
- Students there must commit to an intense focus on naval architecture and marine engineering and cover other expenses besides tuition.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wang, Webb Institute student, Class of 2020
Spread over 26 acres on Long Island’s North Shore, with a private beach, is a tiny but top-ranked college that offers each and every one of its students a full-tuition scholarship for all four years.
Of course, there’s a catch.
At Webb Institute — one of only nine colleges in the country that is completely tuition free — there is just one academic option: a double major in naval architecture and marine engineering.
“When you are applying to Webb, you have to love boats,” said Lauren Carballo, the admissions director.
Thanks to a hefty endowment and devoted alumni, Webb has been able to maintain free tuition even as such promises become increasingly rare. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, for example, dialed back its commitment that education be “as free as air and water” and began offering students only half-tuition scholarships in 2014.
“We’re the only engineering school in the country that offers no tuition,” Carballo said. Still, “a lot of people don’t know we exist.”
Like winning the lottery
College applicants, however, are catching on. The number of applications is on the rise although the enrollment size remains less than 30 students per class. (Webb currently has a 27 percent acceptance rate.)
“For the right student, it’s like winning the lottery,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief and author of “Colleges That Pay You Back.” Every graduate leaves school with a job in the field and an average starting salary of over $71,000, according to the school (higher than both Harvard and Yale).
Kevin Prichard, 23, graduated in June and accepted an offer at Austal, a ship building company in San Diego, working as a naval architect. He said his experience job hunting was “very easy” although his course load over four years was not. “It is a lot of work and the school pushes you.”
The college founded by the shipbuilder William Webb in 1889 is not for every engineering-minded high school student.
Although the one-two punch of skyrocketing tuition costs and sluggish wage growth has caused families to pay more attention to such pre-professional programs, particularly in STEM fields, “make sure you love the discipline,” cautioned said Eric Greenberg, president of Greenberg Educational Group, a New York-based consulting firm. “It’s going to be very focused.”
There’s more to consider beyond price
In addition, there are still room and board and other expenses to contend with, he added. “When most people hear full tuition they think there’s nothing to pay but there is a non-tuition part which can be very expensive.”
To cover those costs at Webb, Prichard took out federal loans and graduated with a student debt tab of about $30,000, he said. (Across the country, seven in 10 seniors graduate with debt, owing about $29,650 per borrower, according to the most recent data from the Institute for College Access & Success.)
“Somebody could go to community college for a lot less than the room and board at many colleges,” Greenberg added.
Greenberg recommends visiting comparable schools before making a decision based on price alone, to make sure that a specific school is the right fit.
“If someone gets in to a school like Webb and they’re not particularly interested in it, that’s not going to work out well down the road.”
Class of 2020 Recreates Famous Artwork
Each year, Professor Richard Harris’s Western Culture II class participates in an art project that requires them to recreate a painting or illustration. The goal of the project is for the student to learn to look closely at-and really see a work of art, as well as acquire a better sense of the roles of composition and color.
This year, the Class of 2020 recreated a painting or illustration from the Post-Impressionist period or later.
Upon completion, each student work of art was exhibited in the Visconti Reception Room to be viewed during graduation week, June 15-17.
View student artwork below.
Webb Institute Joins The Common Application for 2018-2019
Students applying to Webb Institute for 2018-2019 will have the ability to do so through The Common Application, a powerful online college application platform that serves and supports more than three million applicants, teachers, and counselors across the United States and around the world every year.
By becoming a Common App member, Webb will gain exposure to students who may not have otherwise considered the institution while making the application, including fee waiver, process more efficient. One-third of the more than one million Common App applicants are the first in their family to pursue a college degree.
“Webb Institute is thrilled to finally be joining the Common App for this upcoming year,” said Webb Institute’s Director of Admissions and Student Affairs, Lauren Carballo. Being available on the Common App will help to support our ongoing mission of making Webb more accessible to all students.”
In addition to providing a single, online application and 24/7/365 support for all students applying to member colleges and universities, the Common App connects applicants to financial aid and scholarship tools, digital portfolios, virtual mentors, a Virtual Counselor, and a library of resources for counselors, advisors, and recommenders working with students to complete their college applications that includes Spanish language translations.
“The diversity of our membership is one of our greatest strengths,” said Jenny Rickard, President & CEO of The Common Application. “Through membership with The Common Application, Webb Institute has demonstrated a shared commitment to pursuing access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. Thanks to our members, all students, regardless of their background, have the opportunity to easily apply to the college or university that will help them achieve their best future.”
Students can create a Common App account now because their account will roll over from year to year. Beginning this year, Common App members will also begin using the newly introduced Common App for transfer, a separate application designed exclusively to meet the needs of transfer and adult student populations.
The Common Application is a not-for-profit member organization committed to the pursuit of access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. Each year, more than one million students, one-third of whom are first-generation, apply to college through the Common App’s online application. Founded in 1975, the Common App serves more than 800-member colleges and universities worldwide.
Webb’s application will be available on the Common App on August 1, 2018.
To learn more, visit commonapp.org, follow @CommonApp, and #CommonApp.
Dr. Kirsi K. Tikka to Deliver 2018 Commencement Address
Dr. Kirsi K. Tikka will deliver the 2018 commencement address at Webb Institute on Saturday, June 16, 2018. She will also be awarded Webb’s honorary doctorate. Dr. Tikka is a marine industry leader and longstanding advocate for enhancing safety and environmental performance in the maritime industries. Commencement will take place on campus on Saturday, June 16, 2018.
Dr. Kirsi Tikka is the Executive Vice President and Senior Maritime Advisor at ABS (American Bureau of Shipping). Prior to this role, she served as the organization’s Executive Vice President of Global Marine, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Europe Division, Vice President of Engineering and other senior leadership roles. Earlier in her career, she worked for Chevron Shipping in San Francisco and Wartsila Shipyards in Finland.
Before joining ABS in 2001, Dr. Tikka was professor of Naval Architecture at Webb Institute. In addition to teaching, she carried out research on structural strength of tankers and risk analysis and was actively involved in the US National Research Council Marine Board studies on double hull tankers.
Dr. Tikka has a Doctorate in Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture from the University of Technology in Helsinki.
She is a Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) and recipient of its David W. Taylor medal for notable achievement in naval architecture, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Webb Hosts Batman Forever Event in Honor of Glen Cove 350 Celebration
On Sunday, May 6, 2018, Webb Institute joined forces with the City of Glen Cove to host a Batman Forever Screening event in Stevenson Taylor Hall. This event was the first of many to come this month for the City of Glen Cove that will be celebrating its 350th Anniversary.
The event was part of Glen Cove’s “Movies in Mansions” series which aims to highlight Glen Cove’s rich filmography. In 1995, Webb Institute’s Stevenson Taylor Hall served as the iconic Wayne Manor in the Batman Forever which starred Val Kilmer, Jim Carey, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones, and many others. Students, faculty, and administration who were present for the filming recall the production being a very exciting time on campus.
Over 150 attendees had the chance to take a history and film tour of Webb Institute, take a photo with Batman, enjoy refreshments, and watch a screening of Batman Forever in the auditorium.
The event was a great opportunity for the general public to explore and learn more about Webb as well as celebrate the great City of Glen Cove.