Semester at Sea offers a one-of-a-kind Gap Year Program for recent secondary/high school graduates.
As a Gap Year student on Semester at Sea, you will earn up to 12 college credits while sailing the ocean and visiting multiple countries. Our ship, the MV World Odyssey, is the most unique floating college in the world, and it’s where you will learn, live, travel, and reflect on your global study abroad experience.
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As a Start at Sea student with Semester at Sea, you will enroll in an academic program designed specifically to support your success, while also participating in college-level courses alongside your undergraduate peers.
Semester at Sea’s New Student Seminar has been exclusively for Start at Sea students. It will help you build a network among peers and setting the stage for academic and community success. The New Student Seminar meets for 80 minutes every other day for the full voyage, like all other standard courses do. The New Student Seminar also includes a 1-day in-country Field Class in the first port of call.
All students on the ship enroll in the Global Studies course. This course integrates three core themes— port country discovery, intercultural competence, and oceans and sustainability— and prepares students for life as global citizens.
In addition to the two required courses: IU 172C New Student Seminar and IE 200 Global Studies— you will also take 1 or 2 additional 3-credit college courses offered at the 100 or 200 level. Semester at Sea offers a broad range of courses across many disciplines on each voyage including Anthropology, Business, Economics, English, Film, Natural Sciences, Sociology, Women’s Studies and World Literature, to name just a few. Please see the specific voyage Course Offerings page for what will be offered on your voyage.
January 05 — April 20
Germany Ghana India Kenya Malaysia Morocco South Africa Spain Thailand Vietnam
September 09 — December 22
France Ghana Hong Kong India Mauritius Morocco Netherlands South Africa Spain Thailand Vietnam
SAS was the experience of my life, truly something that made me approach life in a very different way. It broaden my horizons, and as a European citizen, it helped me learn about different cultures all around the world. As I said, a once in a lifetime experience, the experience of my entire life.
Semester at Sea was truly the two most influential semesters of my undergraduate degree. Having sailed the first time as a gap year student, I had no idea what to expect. The hands-on and tangible learning experiences are something that I later found were unmatched on a typical college campus and were one of the things that brought be back for round two. While the itinerary was initially the most attractive part of the program, I can say with certainty the shipboard community is the glue of the program. The connection, friends, and (ship) families that I made during my voyages are something that still sticks with me to this day!
Semester at Sea were the best four months of my life! I met some of my best friends, learned so many new things, and traveled to so many new places. I couldn’t recommend it enough!