Semester At Sea: Is The Experience Worth The Money?
The semester at sea ship
photo credit: https://www.semesteratsea.org/new-sas-logo-reveal/
By Halle Hess
Imagine you wake up, get ready for the day, and prepare for your set of classes. You walk outside, and admire your view of a wide and endless stretch of ocean and bright blue sky. This is the reality for students aboard the semester at sea ship.
Semester at Sea is a travel and study abroad program that many students get the opportunity to experience. However, it is an extremely expensive opportunity, and many question whether or not the experience is really worth all of the money. Personally I would take advantage of this opportunity and consider it to be worth the money, as it is rare to get to travel to so many countries over the course of just a few months.
Semester at Sea is a four month program that is available to roughly 550 undergraduate, postgraduate, and gap year students. Voyagers live on a 590-foot ship that travels to between ten and twelve countries per voyage. There is a fall voyage and a spring voyage every year, and the SAS (Semester at Sea) program has been around for 60 years. This program is a great opportunity that opens up a world of possibilities for academic, cross-cultural, and personal growth.
The Fall 2025 Voyage Map
photo credit: https://www.semesteratsea.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Voyage-Map_FA-2025.jpg
According to semesteratsea.org, over 97% of semester at sea students say that SAS was their most significant college experience. In addition to that, there are countless Tiktoks and YouTube videos of previous SAS students detailing their time aboard the ship and giving an insight as to how impactful it was on their lives. Former semester at sea students such as @peycarlson, @carolinemanning, and @taylorpolcyn2 have all documented their personal SAS experiences across various social media platforms.
Each voyage is a time to see the world, experience culture, make new friends, craft new interests, and gain life experience while simultaneously achieving an education and advancing your future career.
The classes aboard the ship are similar to other colleges. You have professors who teach a wide variety of classes you can choose from. You’re also given exams and grades just like any other college student. You have the opportunity to take a full course load and what’s great is those credits can transfer back to your college at home.
Many colleges offer semester at sea as a part of their study abroad program if SAS is a partner provider to their specific college. Colleges such as the University of Oklahoma, the University of Alabama, the Ohio State University, and roughly 150 others all offer SAS as a partner program. By connecting with the semester at sea program, these colleges are able to provide a unique opportunity, financial benefits, course transfer, and close relationship advantages to their students.
One of the SAS classrooms
photo credit: https://www.semesteratsea.org/experience/ship/
While it seems exciting, this opportunity is a very pricey one, and many wonder whether all that money is truly worth it. Many factors play into how much each voyage can cost. Cabin selection, visas for the countries you’re visiting, airfare, tuition, fuel fee, and class books can all fluctuate in price depending on the voyage. In addition to those costs, tuition, meals, amenities, an internet package, SAS email account, and academic field classes are all just the basic expenses for this experience. The spring 2023 voyage had a total cost ranging from $35,000 to $42,000, if you were to only include the costs listed above.
Unfortunately those are not the only things you will be paying for when attending SAS. There are also many additional expenses that are associated with this program. Personal travel within the countries you’re visiting is a big expense, as that could potentially include lodging, food, transportation, going out, shopping, or anything else on land. These expenses are the ones that tend to add up, as you are visiting 10-12 countries and wanting to do all the sightseeing and excursions that you can.
So is this experience truly worth the money it costs? In my opinion, the semester at sea opportunity would be worth the price tag it comes with. Making memories that will last forever while traveling and learning all around the world is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and one that I personally wouldn’t pass up. With all of the scholarships, jobs, and financial aid you can get from the program, there are ways to make this experience affordable.
The SAS program offers many scholarships based off of various things and you are also able to potentially receive additional scholarships from your main college campus. Others are also able to receive need based financial aid. According to semesteratsea.smapply about 60% of SAS students are able to receive scholarships or financial aid. There are also various job opportunities aboard the ship such as being a student assistant or tutoring the younger kids. There are also many ship kids aboard the boat and some students are able to babysit those children and get paid through their families.
Faculty teaching on the ship deck
photo credit:
https://www.gooverseas.com/program/16012/media-gallery
To learn more about the semester at sea opportunity you can visit semesteratsea.org, or do research on social media platforms such as tiktok or instagram (@semesteratsea). There are also many youtube videos detailing peoples personal SAS experiences that can give you a good insight as to what life aboard the ship looks like (@rileysauragee and @GracieOConnor both documented their full experiences).
