In response to a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024 requiring the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review issues related to federal financial aid for mariner training, the watchdog agency has now released a report that addresses a number of key issues. GAO notes that the Maritime Administration (MARAD) is responsible for ensuring that enough mariners are trained to work in the industry, but, while It shares information about its own financial aid program, iy has done less outreach on aid programs available through other agencies. MARAD has taken limited steps to help address challenges that mariner training institutions face in being able to accept federal financial aid. GAO says that durvey respondents from 26 Center of Excellence institutions that offer mariner training said they face challenges such as navigating separate approval processes for Education, VA, and Labor. MARAD has identified strategies to address some of the challenges but has taken limited steps to implement them due to staff resource constraints. By leveraging existing resources, such as the U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS), a federal interagency coordinating committee, MARAD could work with other agencies to help address challenges, such as sharing expertise from VA and Labor on aid approval processes. MARAD has shared information about its financial aid, and its strategies call for publicizing other agencies’ financial aid. However, MARAD has taken limited steps to implement these strategies. GAO’s review of MARAD websites found links to other agencies’ websites with little context on their financial aid, such as type of aid offered. Respondents from 11 of 26 surveyed institutions reported that MARAD had not communicated with them in the past three years on aid available to students, and respondents from another 11 institutions reported they did not know if MARAD had offered such communication. While MARAD has limited resource