The 117th voyage of Semester at Sea is underway but who is aboard the MV Explorer?
The Fall 2014 voyage enrolled 629 students from 251 colleges and universities. The average student grade point average is 3.3 and student-declared majors number over 50. One-quarter of students are business-related majors, 15% are communications-related majors, and 7% report psychology or biology as their major, respectively. Undeclared students constitute 7% of the student body.
Of the 251 colleges and universities represented on the Fall 2014 voyage, the home institutions with the greatest number of students include: University of San Diego (60), Elon University (33), University of Virginia (26), University of Colorado, Boulder (23), Bentley College (18), Colorado State University and University of Oregon (each with 13), and the University of California, Santa Barbara (10). There are 156 colleges and universities with one student aboard.
Students represent 32 nationalities; while 9 out of 10 students hold American passports, fully 60 students are non-U.S. passport holders. The U.S. students hail from 45 states, with 20% residing in California.
The gender ratio of students is 71% female and 28% male, which is not far from the normative study abroad gender ratio of 2/3 female and 1/3 male.
But the ship’s population is not just made up of students!
The faculty and staff number 74 in total , 42 faculty and 32 staff. There are 14 Lifelong Learners on this voyage, ranging in age from two years old (yes, we have a Lifelong Learner family!) to 69. Additionally, many of the faculty and staff are joined by their families , spouses, partners, and children. They number 33 and include nine children between the ages of seven and 17.
Supporting all that we do on this voyage is our remarkable crew. In total, there are 171 crew , of whom 10% are female , hailing from 17 different countries (particularly the Philippines, who represent three quarters of the crew).
Altogether, Fall 2014 is a diverse community prepared for the voyage ahead.
