Loren W. Crabtree, recently the Chief Executive for Global Education for the Institute for Shipboard Education, summarized what the Semester at Sea is and does, and why it is headquartered at CSU.  The Institute is a 501c3 corporation that arranges two semester-long voyages each year for some 600 students each time.  Student participants earn 12 – 15 credits that are transferable, in addition to becoming better citizens of the world.  A small number of “life-long learners” can also participate on a credit or non-credit basis.  Courses concentrate on arts and sciences and Business subjects.  Each trip comprises some 104 days (one semester) at sea stopping at some ten ports for on-shore activities.  The average cost is $25,000.  Some 97% of past student participants have indicated that it was the best experience of their undergraduate careers.  Although many of the students are transformed by the experience, Dr. Crabtree suggests that the continuous up-close and personal involvement with the students might lead life-long learners who are “uptight” to focus on other experiences.   

Semester at Sea has been headquartered at CSU since 2014 because the school is highly competitive and internationalized (e.g., the Peace Corps originated here); within the framework of its land-grant origins, the school is well-respected in a significant number of related disciplines (in the top 82 in the country); the school has a wide base of entrepreneurial spirit; and some 80 CSU faculty and staff members have served on earlier Semester at Sea voyages.  CSU, with its wide-ranging international focus, was excited by the opportunity to host this innovative approach to increasing global awareness on the part of the undergraduate community.