Some coastal and marine management programs focus on current issues arising from the overuse of coastal areas as well as alternative solutions to manage their resources. Students’ instruction often includes both classroom lectures and fieldwork.

The United States of America commonly called the United States, is a federal republic consisting of fifty states and a federal district. The 48 contiguous states and the federal district of Washington, D.C. are in first North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in northwestern North America, west of Canada and east of Russia across the Bering Strait, and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-North Pacific. The country also has five populated and nine unpopulated territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

An associate of applied science is a program of study that prepared students for entry level position in a wide variety of fields. Students who enter this program typically have the goal of beginning to work immediately upon graduation instead of pursuing further study.