In my outsider opinion, the above sentence fragment is the key to KP's continueing existence. The AD percentages would be a much smaller concern if we had a robust and healthy US deep water shipping industry.
KP doesn't need an 'AD quota' to justify its existence. This antiquated notion that everyone is going to sail on a deep sea ship traveling around the world but if they can't, "oh gee whiz they can always go AD in the USxx" is absurd.
U.S.-flag
deep sea shipping is just about dead and is not coming back, at least to anything close to what it once was. The reasons for that and what to do about it are numerous, but for now, that's not where the jobs are. Sorry, but that's the reality.
The future of the merchant marine in the U.S is in smaller coastwise/inshore vessels, particularly those supporting the oil industry. KP needs to reorganize in a way that prepares the students for work on OSVs, tugs, ATBs, drillships, etc. The sailing jobs are out there (a few companies in the GoM are booming right now) and the employers want educated, smart people (from all of the maritime academies) to run their vessels. This shift of focus should not be viewed as a deviation from KP's mission, but rather a response to the needs of the industry as it sits right now and in the foreseeable future. These companies and their owners are taxpayers too (to some extent).
Enough of the "whining" of the lack of a deep sea fleet. Yes, it's important but leaving grads high and dry while reminiscing about the good 'ol days when we had more ships than anyone else, in the hopes that such a fleet returns, is a disservice to the taxpayer and the student/graduate. It would be akin to KP holding off on starting an engineering program when the transition from sail to steam was made - those aren't coming back either.