A survey of recent MMA alumni reveals their priorities and unique advantages as they enter the working world.

BARELY A MONTH after graduating as a Marine Transportation Operations major, Anthony Franchetti ’19 was set to catch a plane to Trinidad, where he will work as Third Mate aboard a drillship for Transocean Ltd.

“Yes, I have a job sailing on my license and am very fortunate,” he says.

Luck may have played a role, but more likely, he, like other recent graduates and those who came before them, landed a job as a result of hard work and study while a student.

“At MMA, we used to joke as graduation drew near that we could see the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Franchetti. “What you don’t know is what lies beyond the tunnel. What will work and life be like once you’re on your own?”

Recent alumni, classes from 2009 to 2019 and numbering some 2,100 graduates, share many concerns with those of past decades. Yet they are entering a different world, where balancing job, family, and finances and having a fulfilling lifestyle are buffeted by the pace of change in technology, the economy and differing expectations.

Seeking Answers

In May, with interest in learning more about their concerns and how MMA might address them, the MMA Office of Alumni Relations fielded an on-line survey of approximately 1,400 recent alumni, of whom 131 responded (11 percent).

“Because of record enrollments, graduates from the past decade represent nearly a quarter of all MMA alumni,” says Alumni Relations Director Jeff Wright. “That’s an important and unique cohort we want to assist. The recent alumni survey is just one way to learn what’s on their minds, to identify their needs and to solicit ideas.”