How does taking the YDS course compare with University degree programs?
To our knowledge there is only one university degree program, the one from Southampton in Britain, which has a suitable curriculum to prepare naval architects to practice in the specialty of yacht and small craft design. To be blunt many of the most famous schools no longer seem to be teaching even the design of larger ships. It seems to be the fashion now to charge a very great deal of money for a university education and to separate the academic studies as far as possible from the practical information necessary to begin a career. Most of the famous yacht designers in history never took a large ship naval architectural degree. Most of them learned from other naval architects, took courses like ours, or were self taught. Further only a very small number of practicing naval architects today who specialize in yacht and small craft design have university based Bachelor of Science degrees in naval architecture. The schools teaching yacht and small craft naval architecture have invariably
