The ship's economic context. In the fall of 1999, passengers paid on average about $14,000 for a 100 days voyage. About 600 of the 627 students pay full tuition or get financial assistance from their home universities and colleges. Twenty five students received 'work study' assistance from the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE). There are about 32 paying senior adults. The Institute for Shipboard Education received about $9,000,000 by my calculation for the fall 1999 voyage. In addition the Field Office, which administers the 30 or so day and overnight trips in each of 10 ports, took in about $3,000,000 dollars this semester. Compared to an elite, private U.S. college or university's average tuition of $11,000 per semester, Semester at Sea charges significantly more. The Institute for Shipboard Education's $12,000,000 per voyage (or a very roughly estimated $30,000,000 per year for spring, summer and fall voyages) compares favorably with small U.S. businesses employing. All passengers have access to more financial resources than much of the world's population. The success of the U.S. economy and the remarkable run up of the stock market over the past 17 years has helped to increase enrollment.
These monies go primarily to the Institute for Shipboard Education and its employees, who include the Institute for Shipboard Education's University of Pittsburgh's office (30), the faculty (30) and staff (38) on board the vessel, the shipping company which owns and operates the "Universe Explorer" and its owners the Tung family, the piloting and wharfage services, the officers and Phillipino crew, and the tour operators in each of the 10 ports.
In exchange, students receive tuition and academic credits transferable to their home colleges and universities. Students on the fall 1999 voyage come from 251 - mostly U.S. - different educational institutions with the University of Pittsburgh, University of Colorado and the University of California providing large numbers of students.