Why You’ll Never Pay an Extra Captain’s License Test Fee With Mariners

When people ask me what sets Mariners Learning System apart, I have a lot to say: our commitment to our students, our 98.7% success rate, and our focus on true understanding, to name a few. 

But another seemingly small yet important element of our school is that we don’t charge a captain’s license test fee. 

This might seem like a given — and I agree it should be. But in my observation and experience, it’s not always the case.

Some maritime training schools will charge you one price for your course and then hit you with another fee when it’s time to take the captain’s license test. At Mariners, we don’t do that. We never have, and we never will.

Here’s why.

Your Captain’s License Test Is Included — On Purpose

When you enroll in a Mariners course, your goal is to pass the captain’s license test. That test isn’t a bonus — it’s the finish line. Charging a second fee to cross that line doesn’t sit right with me.

I’ve been there myself.

When I went to get my own captain’s license, I attended a well-known school. It was in a classroom setting, and from the start, I had concerns. They were basically feeding us answers to the exam, but anytime I asked why an answer was correct — because I genuinely wanted to understand — I was told to shut up and sit down.

I still studied hard. I wasn’t a traditional student — school didn’t come easy to me growing up — and I didn’t want to fail.

Come test day, I was ready, but not exactly confident. I walked in, nervous… and the proctor told me it would be another $95 to take the test. I was shocked.

“I already paid for the course,” I said.

“Right,” he replied. “But you didn’t pay for the test.”

Why That Moment Changed Everything for Me

I handed the proctor a credit card, and he said, “Cash only.” I was in a town I didn’t know, and without any cash on me. 

Instead of focusing on my test, I had to run around looking for an ATM, finally get a hundred-dollar bill, and bring it back. The guy took the cash, put it in his pocket, and told me he didn’t have change.

That was the moment I knew I was going to do things differently.

When I founded Mariners Learning System, I built it on a very simple idea: If you pay me for an education, I’m going to give you one. Period.

You shouldn’t be charged twice for the same goal. The course and the test go together. One prepares you for the other. That’s how I see it.

Integrity Over Profit

The Coast Guard doesn’t charge me a captain’s license test fee to give students the exam, so why would I charge an extra fee to administer it? 

Charging extra for any item — including a test — means that item becomes a profit center for your business. And I’ve never liked those implications for the Mariners exam.

If a business owner makes money every time you take the captain’s license test, then they might not be too upset if you fail. In fact, they might even prefer you to come back and pay again.

Of course, that’s not how I feel. But I don’t want to allow even the possibility of that sentiment to creep in. Ever. That’s just not how I operate.

Instead, I chose to align Mariners’ financial incentives with its students’ goals. 

Every time a student doesn’t pass the test on the first try, it costs us money. We have to pay our proctors again, ship out new chart plotting materials, provide support for the retest, etc. So when you take your test with us, we’re as financially invested in your success as you are. 

I built Mariners this way so students can trust us when we say we want you to succeed. You don’t even have to know our character or our reputation to believe it — our business model is built on it.

The Bigger Picture: Transparency Builds Trust

We’ve had over 200,000 graduates — and counting. That growth isn’t just because we’re good at teaching Navigation, Plotting, and the Rules of the Road (though we are).

It’s because people trust us.

And that trust starts with transparency. I don’t ever want a student to feel like I’m pulling a bait-and-switch. That’s how I felt the day I had to fork over $95 to sit for the exam I thought I’d already paid for.

At Mariners, what you see is what you get. When you sign up for a course, you get full access to 12 months of material, plus the ability to take your captain’s license test online, with no additional fee. 

You have three attempts to pass — because sometimes nerves get the best of people, and we understand that. We’ve been there. And we’ve built our system to help you get through it.

When Mariners students earn their license, it’s not just because they memorized answers to some test questions. I personally wrote not only the course but also our Coast Guard-approved captain’s license test, ensuring you’ll learn exactly what you need to know — both for the test and for your future as a licensed captain.

Final Thoughts on Captain’s License Test Fees

Whether you’re pursuing a captain’s license for the first time or coming back to renew, I want you to know that this isn’t just a business for me. It’s personal.

My own journey wasn’t easy. I didn’t breeze through school. I had to work for it. And I’ve never forgotten how it felt to walk into that classroom with something to prove — to myself, and to the world.

So I made a promise: No gimmicks. No surprise fees. No nickel-and-diming students who just want a fair shot. When you sign up with Mariners, you get everything you need to succeed — including the captain’s license test. 

You worked hard for this. So did we. And I’m making sure our successes stay aligned.

Let’s chart your course together.