Students, called cadets, earn a Bachelor of Science degree and their Federal license to sail as an officer on both the Great Lakes and the oceans.

The Great Lakes Maritime Academy was established in 1969 to provide education and training to those wanting a career in the merchant marine.

The harbor was completed in 2005, and concluded the construction of the modern campus now home to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy where the T/S State of Michigan is moored only 150 feet (46 m) from the buildings rear.

This program prepares graduates for management level positions aboard the largest ships of any type on the Great Lakes and oceans.

The T/S State of Michigan is used for the first sea project to educate cadets of the responsibilities of officers and crew, shipboard etiquette and the lifestyle aboard ship.

Two additional sea projects are spent aboard commercial ships to best prepare cadets for the real life occupation of a merchant mariner.

Originally launched in 1985 as the USNS Persistent (T-AGOS-6); the T/S State of Michigan was commissioned as a Stalwart-class Tactical Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship (TAGOS).

The training ship is now used as a daily laboratory environment and is also used underway allowing cadets to put into practice the theory and skills they have learned prior to their commercial sea projects.