Alumni Recommendation Award Program

You trained here and went to work. Somewhere in your life there is probably someone who could do the same: a friend stuck in a dead-end job, a cousin who is good with their hands, someone you worked with who keeps asking how you got started.

You trained here and went to work. Somewhere in your life there is probably someone who could do the same: a friend stuck in a job with no ceiling, a cousin who is good with their hands, someone you worked with who keeps asking how you got started.

Recommend them to The Ocean Corporation. It is worth up to $1,000 off their tuition.

The Ocean Corporation has trained commercial divers and nondestructive testing technicians in Houston since 1969. We are accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, and our alumni network is more than 15,000 strong. Our graduates work across offshore energy, petrochemical, aerospace, manufacturing and maritime.

None of that lands the way one sentence from you does. A prospective student hears a school describe itself and discounts it. They hear it from someone who actually did the training, and they listen. That is the whole idea behind this program.

Up to $1,000, credited to the student’s account against what they still owe The Ocean Corporation.
Paid in two halves: $500 at class day 45, $500 at class day 120.
Each half has to be earned. A student who leaves before class day 45 gets nothing. A student who leaves between the two points keeps the first $500 and forfeits the second.
Not cash. It is not paid to you, and it is not paid out to the student. It reduces their balance.
It caps at what they actually owe us. If their charges are already covered by other aid, a half can come to less than $500, or to nothing. See the FAQ; we would rather you hear it here than find out later.

You submit the form. Your name and program, their name and contact information. It takes about two minutes. Talk to them first. The form asks you to confirm they know about it and agree to be contacted.
We reach out to them. Our admissions team follows up directly. You do not have to sell anything.
They apply and enroll. Your name has to be on the recommendation at or before their application. We cannot attach it after they are already enrolled.
They start, and they stay. The first half is earned at class day 45, the second at class day 120.
The Award is applied. Financial Aid packages it and the Business Office posts each half to their account as it is earned.

Know the right person? Send us their name and we will take it from there.

Questions? Call our admissions team at 1-800-321-0298.

Recommend an Award

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About You

Are you a TOC Grad or Employee(Required)

Alumnus

Staff

Your Name(Required)

First Last

Program you Completed(Required)

NDT

UDT/CDT

What year did you graduate?(Required)

Your Department(Required)

Your Email(Required)

Your Phone(Required)

This is used only to confirm your recommendation.

Who You are Recommending

Their Name(Required)

First Last

Their Email(Required)

Their Phone

Program they're interested in.(Required)

Ultimate Diver Training (UDT)

Nondestructive Testing Training (NDT)

Undecided

How do you know them?

Confirm

Recommender Source

Recommender Medium

This is the complete rule set. The short version is above; this is what actually governs the Award.

The Award

Up to $1,000 per qualifying recommended student, as an institutional tuition credit posted to the student’s account. It is not cash, and no payment is made to the person who recommended them.
Disbursed in two equal payments of $500. The first is released when the student completes the first forty-five class days of the program; the second when the student completes one hundred twenty class days.
A student who discontinues enrollment before a disbursement point forfeits the portion not yet disbursed. A student who discontinues before completing the first forty-five class days forfeits the Award in full.
The Award is limited to the remaining charges actually billed by the school after all federal, state, and private aid and other funding sources are applied. If billed charges or outside funding change at any time after the Award is approved, including after it has posted, the Award is reduced or returned so that total funding never exceeds billed charges.
All Awards are made in compliance with federal student aid rules and may not create an overaward.
Awards are subject to available program funds. The Ocean Corporation may pause new Awards for the remainder of the pilot once the approved program budget is committed.

Who can recommend

Any TOC graduate in good standing, meaning no outstanding balance owed to the school and no separation-for-cause on record. An alumnus provides proof of identity that ties back to their graduation record, which the Registrar confirms.
During the pilot, current TOC employees may also submit recommendations, whether or not they are graduates. Employees are verified against employment records. Employees who work in Admissions, Financial Aid, the Business Office, or the Registrar’s office cannot validate, approve, or post their own recommendations; an uninvolved manager handles those steps.

Who qualifies as a recommended student

A new prospective student who enrolls in Commercial Diving (UDT) or Nondestructive Testing (NDT).
Has not previously enrolled at The Ocean Corporation.
Was not already in our admissions pipeline (no prior inquiry, application, or active lead in our system) during the twelve months before the recommendation is submitted.
Remains enrolled through the first forty-five class days of the program. Withdrawal or termination before that point voids the Award. The second $500 further requires that the student remain enrolled through one hundred twenty class days.
Students who enrolled before the program launch date of October 13, 2026 are not eligible.

What makes a recommendation valid

Named at the front. The alumnus or employee is identified as the recommendation source at or before the prospect’s application. A recommendation cannot be attached after a student is already enrolled.
Genuinely new. See the twelve-month rule above.
Submitted on the recommendation form, with the prospect’s knowledge and consent to be contacted.
One recommendation per student. The first valid recommendation recorded is the one that counts; later or duplicate claims on the same student are rejected.

Award limits

No student may receive more than one Award in their lifetime.
There is no limit on how many people you may recommend.

Other terms

The Ocean Corporation may suspend or void an Award for falsified information, collusion, or any attempt to game these rules.
Information submitted through the recommendation form is protected under our privacy policy, which for this program covers prospective students as well as enrolled students.
Award amounts credited to a student’s account during the tax year are reported as offsets to tuition paid through the annual Form 1098-T process.
This is a twelve-month pilot. The Ocean Corporation may amend or discontinue the program during the pilot; a recommendation already validated when a change takes effect is honored under the terms in effect when it was validated. The program will be reviewed before any decision to make it permanent.

Anyone who is new to The Ocean Corporation: someone who has not enrolled here before and had no inquiry, application, or active lead with us in the twelve months before you submit the recommendation. Friends, family, and coworkers all count. Your name has to be on it at or before they apply.

Fill out the form first. If they contact us on their own before your recommendation is on record, they are already in our pipeline and the recommendation will not qualify. Talk to them, then submit the form, then tell them to expect our call.

They do not get money. The Award is a credit against what they owe the school, and it comes in two halves. The first $500 is released when they complete forty-five class days. The second $500 at class day 120. If they leave before class day 45 they get neither. If they leave in between, they keep the first and lose the second.

Those are the points our financial aid office uses to treat each half of the program as established. Before each one a student is still inside the refund window, so we do not release money we would have to take back.

It is $1,000 if they finish both halves and they still owe us that much. Two things can make it less. They have to reach class day 45 for the first $500 and class day 120 for the second. And the Award can only reduce what they still owe The Ocean Corporation after their federal, state, and other aid is applied. If their charges are already covered, there may be little or nothing left for it to apply to. That is an honest limitation of how institutional awards work, and we would rather say it here.

It is packaged as part of their aid, and it cannot push their total funding above what the school has billed them. If their charges or outside funding change later, including after the credit has posted, the Award is adjusted so everything stays in line with federal rules.

As many as you want. Each student can only receive one Award, ever, but there is no cap on you.

A thank-you from our student services team, and the knowledge that someone you care about is starting a career you already know is real. This is a pilot and we are still deciding whether to add anything more to it. We are not going to promise you something we have not approved.

Yes, during the pilot. Employees can participate whether or not they are graduates. If you work in admissions, financial aid, the business office, or the registrar’s office, a colleague handles the approval steps on your recommendations so the separation is clean.

Commercial Diving (UDT) and Nondestructive Testing (NDT).

The first valid recommendation on record is the one that counts.