Saturday, August 15, 2009

How Students Afford Semester at Sea

Many students would love to be a part of the Semester at Sea experience, but often don’t think it’s possible because of their financial constraints.

Quite the contrary. Lots of students get financial assistance.

In fact, nearly half of the students on the Summer ’09 voyage received financial aid from the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE). For the past several years, ISE has been working diligently to build an annual fund to support scholarships and aid to make voyages accessible for all interested students.

“ISE is committed to making sure that all students who want to participate in Semester at Sea have the opportunity to do so,” said Mike Zoll, executive dean of the Summer ’09 voyage and Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs for the Institute for Shipboard Education.

"We believe strongly in the program’s mission and that the experience truly deepen one’s understanding of issues and cultures around the world and one’s place in the world," Zoll said. "Everyone—regardless of their financial situation—should be able to be a part of that.”

In the past three years, the fund for financial assistance has doubled from $1.6 million to $3.25 million. For the summer voyage, ISE provided just over $1 million in aid to nearly 44% of the students, averaging $3,300 per student—the most financial assistance ever given for a summer voyage. Of that aid, 49% was in need-based grants; 38% were scholarships and 13% were student leadership awards.

Students have also managed to afford the Semester at Sea voyage in a number of other ways. Read on to learn how some of the Summer 2009 voyagers have paid for Semester at Sea to have an experience of a lifetime.

Sarah Shepherd, Bowling Green State University
I applied for a lot of scholarships both through SAS and my home university. I also did a lot of work and saved a lot of money before coming. My parents did a parent-student loan, but most of it is through my own.

Emily Bialas, U-Pitt
I almost wasn’t able to come because I didn’t have the means to come on the ship. I applied for all the scholarships that Semester at Sea offered and I got a needs-based grant a small merit-based scholarship. I took out a loan from my bank to cover the remainder. It was important enough for me to do this; I wanted to make sure I could come.

Ana Alexandrescu, Lehigh University
I applied for tons of financial aid. I was pretty much on the e-mail almost every day. IAnd I applied for all the scholarships that were available and I got a few of them. So, combined, I got a financial aid package that allowed me to be able to come.

Shani Graves, Temple Univ.
My mother and stepfather gave me $2,000 and then I took out a little over $3,000 in Stafford loans and a $5,000 private loan. It was definitely important enough for me to do that I wanted to take out loans to help me pay for it.

Audrey Rupnow, North Texas University
My entire voyage was paid for with scholarships and grants—about $9,000 through SAS and $1,700 was from my home school. I also worked a lot before I came (to pay for books and tours) and my family also helped me out. I specifically came for the summer because it was a better financial option for me.

Chelsea Person, Virginia Commonwealth Univ.
I applied for and received some financial aid through ISE and I also applied for two other scholarships and I got one from the Golden Key International Honor Society. I paid for the rest through a $4,000 student loan I took out myself. I am using that to cover the tuition balance, books, tours, FDPs (faculty directed practica), and spending money.

Amy Robinson, Flagler College
I’m paying for this whole thing myself. I paid for a lot of it myself through scholarships at school and work as an R.A. (resident advisor) at school. I saved about $9,000 by working as an RA at my home school. I also got the R.A. program here and I got a $500 scholarship from SAS. Plus, I worked for six weeks before I left for this trip and then have relied on whatever money is in my bank account.

Erica Morrissette, SUNY Oswego
I’m paying for this myself. I applied the day you could apply for the Summer voyage and decided on the summer because it was less expensive than a fall or spring voyage. Then, I basically spent nearly a year trying to find ways to save. Some things I did were:
• Apply to be an R.A. at my school and to be an R.A. on the ship
• Purposely take online classes at home and live at home (I go to school 3 hours away).
• I took out a Stafford loan to cover my room and board, even though I was living at home, and just applied that money to my SAS voyage.

Lauren Armstrong, Michigan State University
My parents each paid half of the tuition and I worked before I came to save money. I also received an R.A. position on the ship, which has helped cover the cost of trips and incidentals.

Colby Melvin, Spring Hill College
I applied for as many scholarships as I could and my family helped pay for the rest. It was probably my Christmas, birthday and even graduation present.

Nico Kerr, UC Santa Cruz
I’ve been planning on Semester at Sea for over a year and have been saving for all that time. I mainly afforded it through SAS’s financial aid. They granted me $7,000 total, including my R.A. position on the ship. I saved another $6,000 working as an R.A. at my university. I also received some help from my grandparents and family friends. The money I saved from my R.A. work at my home institution allowed me to pay for tours and traveling expenses like air flights and books.

Eric Paulino, Sarah Lawrence College
I was fortunate enough to receive a full tuition scholarship through that National Society of High School Scholars. I still had to pay for books, tours and everything else and my family helped scrape together some money for me to do that.


Sarah Cogdill, Univ. of Texas
I started working in high school at 16 because I knew that, in college, I wanted to study abroad and that I would have to pay for it. I was preparing for the Semester at Sea voyage for a year and saving up for the idea of studying abroad for three years. So, through my own savings and taking out a loan, I was able to do it all on my own.

Nexus Cook, Temple University
I got almost all of it covered by SAS (through the partnership with the Diversity Abroad program) and the rest was my mom and family friends.

Francisco Martinez, Stanford University
I got most of my money from the Diversity Abroad Scholarship. Then I got additional financial assistance from Semester at Sea, saved some from a previous job, and took out a federal loan.

Jessica Bingham, Brigham Young University
Financial aid covered most of my costs. My family can’t help. I have six little brothers and sisters. Whatever financial aid didn’t cover came from money I’ve saved from working.

3 comments:

  1. I guess I'm still a bit skeptical. I only recently heard about SAS and I haven't saved much to work with. I can't really save if I'm at school full time. Then, I really don't want to take out ANOTHER loan to go, I already owe enough. And from what I've heard, there isn't a 100% chance I'll get enough scholarship money. I have my future to think about, and as much as I'm dying to go, I can't seem to see how digging a deeper whole will help my future career. Am I wrong for this?

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