About Semester at Sea

Semester at Sea takes a global comparative approach to study abroad using a ship as its traveling campus and sailing to multiple ports around the world.

Our Mission

Journeys of discovery that spark bold solutions to global challenges.

The Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) is a 501c3 nonprofit based in Fort Collins, Colorado that administers the Semester at Sea study abroad program in conjunction with the Colorado State University. The mission of ISE is to educate individuals with the global understanding necessary to address the challenges of our interdependent world. Since 1963, more than 73,000 individuals from 1,700 institutions, have traveled to more than 60 countries on Semester at Sea and its predecessor programs.

Program Names

Academic Sponsors

Ships

Alma Mater

As a tribute to Max Brandt, respected ethnomusicologist and Chief Academic Officer Emeritus, the composition of our alma mater is Semester at Sea’s newest tradition.

OFF TO SEA – THE WORLD

Alma mater for Semester at Sea/Institute for Shipboard Education
Sheet Music: Melody and Four-Part Harmony
Composed in honor of Max Brandt

As we sail from this harbor
Off to see the world
As we sail from port to starboard
All our flags unfurled

We remember many new faces
And the friends we’ve come to know
And the memories of new places
Remind us of how we’ve grown

Raise our voices high
Open wide our eyes
Open up the world to me
On a voyage of discovery

Across the oceans wide
Where the waves uncurl
Life will never be the same
Now that I have seen the world…

Words & music by John M. Rosenberg (S00)