It was such an awesome idea, of course someone else was going to jump on it. Lucky for you, that means that if spending a few months sailing around the world, learning as you go and visiting exotic ports of call sounds like something you’d enjoy, you have more than one option.

The Scholar Ship is a globally recognized academic program aboard a transformed passenger ship hosting students on semester-long voyages around the world (according to their website.)

The “globally recognized” part must be true though, because they’ve partnered with several colleges and universities, including U.C. Berkeley and Macquarie University in Sydney, to make sure you get the most out of the experience academically as well as culturally. It’s open to both undergrads and graduate students, and financial aid options are available.

If I could travel back in time and redo a semester of my own college experience, this is exactly what I’d want to do, so I hope some of you are able to hop aboard and tell me all about it. Maybe send me a postcard or two to say “Ahoy!”

For more information: http://thescholarship.com/

And to arrange your travel to and from the ship, talk to our friends at Travel CUTS. They can find you a great student deal on flights and can also hook you up with an ISIC so that you’ll save some cash during your time in port.

Update: Unfortunately, it looks like this program no longer exists. If learning at sea interests you, check out Semester at Sea.