Glacier Bay Semester

Frequently Asked Questions

While the majority of our students are in their second or third year of college, the program is open to young people ages 18 to 23, including students who have recently graduated from either high school or college. We accept U.S. citizens, DACA recipients, undocumented students, and international students residing legally in the United States. Depending on visa type, international students may or may not be able to receive college credit. Unfortunately, Tidelines cannot currently sponsor student visas. All students must meet our essential eligibility criteria.

Tidelines Institute does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national and/or ethnic origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression in the administration of any of its educational programs, admissions policies, financial aid, and other related policies and programs, as well as volunteer and employment-related policies and activities.

Every college and university has its own process and its own deadlines, so please check with your Study Abroad or Off-Campus Study office! At most schools, you will need to meet with a study abroad/study away advisor and fill out a form expressing your intention to study off-campus in the fall semester. If the Glacier Bay Semester is not on your school’s list of pre-approved study away programs, many schools offer a petition process whereby students can enroll in an unapproved program. Be sure to check early, as the approval process can take a few weeks! We are happy to submit any information that you may need to your home institution – including syllabi, instructor CVs, etc. – so don’t hesitate to be in touch with us as well. Some schools require a separate meeting with a financial aid office. And of course, you’ll also need to fill out our application as well. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, with each new batch being reviewed every 4-6 weeks.

Just fill out our application and you’re ready to go! Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, with each new batch being reviewed every 4-6 weeks.

Please email the Applications Committee at admissions@tidelinesinstitute.org to inquire. If there are spots available, you are welcome to submit an application.

So that you can experience the dynamic beauty of the Alaskan summer! Summer is the season where everything is happening up here – field research and paddle trips, booming gardens and construction projects. We wouldn’t want you to miss it! And the other plus side: since you’ll be getting home in early November, most students will have at least two months for travel, work, internships, and other opportunities before your spring semester begins.

All kinds of things! Here are a few ideas:

  • Internships. Many organizations offer short-term or off-season internships. And if you can’t find quite what you’re looking for, try reaching out to an individual employed in the field you want to explore. They may be willing to take you on for a while to show you the ropes!
  • Jobs. Employers everywhere are looking for help! If you want to earn a little extra money in advance of your trip, you likely won’t have to look too far to find someone hiring in your area.
  • Independent Research. Working with a faculty member, design and execute a research project in a field that interests you. This could lead towards your senior thesis or course credit or both!
  • Intensive Courses. These can range from a normal summer session at your university to a coding boot camp to a language immersion course abroad.
  • Outdoor Leadership Training. Get trained up for some serious outdoor exploration! Get certified as a Wilderness First Responder, in Swiftwater Rescue, in Avalanche Safety and beyond.
  • Travel at home or abroad. A backpacking trip in Montana. A road trip through the American south. A train trip through the Alps. A language immersion program in Guatemala. A volunteer trip to Senegal. The opportunities to explore are endless!

In order to preserve the integrity of the cohort, students are not permitted to arrive after the scheduled arrival date, nor may students plan to depart before the scheduled departure date.

Please visit our Fees & Financial Aid page to learn more about the cost of attendance. We are deeply invested in making sure that students of all financial backgrounds participate in the Glacier Bay Semester, and in the past, over 80% of our students have received financial aid. Students requiring financial aid should plan to participate during their college career as a “study away” program. For domestic and international study abroad opportunities, many students are able to use their federal, state, and/or institutional financial aid.

Yes! If you are paying through your home institution, no further work is required. If you are paying Tidelines Institute directly, please email laura@tidelinesinstitute.org for further information. Be aware that due to the additional work required to process these payments, paying through these channels incurs a 2% administrative fee.

Yes! All GBS courses are accredited through Western Colorado State University. After you finish your final course, you will be able to access your transcript to send to your home institution. Please note that it is your responsibility to work with your college registrar, advisor, and/or major department in order to ensure that your credits transfer smoothly, though Tidelines can help with this process. Tidelines Institute will pay course credit fees for all enrolled students except for those who have already graduated from college (these students can receive a transcript at an additional cost). Depending on visa type, international students may or may not be able to receive college credit.

Prepare to be busy. On your average weekday you are likely to spend 3-4 hours doing labor, 3 in class, and 1-2 on self-governance. And that’s not counting homework, independent projects, down time, meals, and sleep. The Glacier Bay Semester will be fun, but it is also intense, challenging, transformative. You will be stressed sometimes. You may wonder how you’re going to get everything done. But you won’t be alone. And you definitely won’t be bored.

Some students will arrive at the Glacier Bay Semester with more relevant experience in academics, labor, or self-governance than others. While all students must be prepared to do college-level coursework, some students may have majors that provide them with a better foundation for the academic material. Others may already know how to weld, cook, or filet a fish; others may already have experience running meetings and organizing political bodies. If you are applying with a strong background in one or more of these areas, you should be aware that you will likely find yourself in an informal mentorship position vis-a-vis your fellow students. It is up to you to take advantage of that role, or to consciously step back to let others give it a try. Participants range in age from roughly from 18 to 24, so there is a range in terms of experience; you should not expect to come here to find that everyone is on equal footing in all areas. That said, since some students will be strong in certain areas and weaker in others, there is great opportunity for reciprocal knowledge-sharing.

While many find Tidelines’ warm community environment beneficial for their overall wellbeing, the Glacier Bay Semester can be a high-stress environment, even for students with no history of mental illness. We highly recommend that prospective students with mental health challenges have a stable and effective treatment plan in place well in advance of arriving this summer. We will help students find private space to talk on the phone to their counselors or therapists, and we can connect students to therapists in Juneau willing to provide consultations over the phone. No formal mental health services are available on-site, and mental health emergencies will be treated—like physical health emergencies—as cause for rapid evacuation to professional care.

Student life at Tidelines is strictly drug, tobacco, and alcohol free. This applies to all students regardless of age. Drugs include all illegal drugs, all prescription drugs taken recreationally and/or without a prescription, marijuana and its derivatives, all forms of tobacco, and e-cigarettes.

Drugs and alcohol are prohibited for a few reasons. First of all, there are safety risks involved with being inebriated in a wild, remote place, with access to both power tools and many natural dangers. Second, while not universally true, many students at traditional colleges use drugs and alcohol in escapist or self-medicating ways. We would like students to be fully present for their time here, and to socialize in ways, while they may be slower than drunk bonding, are ultimately less superficial and more meaningful. We would also like students to take time away and apart from their usual habits—in terms of drugs and alcohol, but also in all aspects of their lives —because a break from routine can make you more intentional about the way you live.

Apart from travel that is part of the program – e.g., travel to the Inian Islands or backcountry trips—student travel is permissible only for medical emergencies. Students who travel outside our program-designated areas for any other reason may forfeit their place in the program, may be asked not to return from their travels, and will not be eligible for a tuition refund.

Gustavus is a small community, but spread out over a large area. The Tidelines campus is about 1.5 miles from the center of town. Biking and walking are both easy ways to get around, and Tidelines has a fleet of bikes for student use. Students are not permitted to drive campus vehicles.

Students may not take outside coursework while enrolled. Tidelines is an immersive living-learning program, and students will be fully occupied each day with work and study. Students will have neither the time for additional studies nor sufficiently reliable internet access to succeed in online courses.

  • 7:00am: The kitchen team is making breakfast, while garden team lets the chickens out, opens the greenhouses, and waters the garden.
  • 8:00: Breakfast! Staff and students eat together, then the dish crew gets going before class.
  • 9:00-12:00pm: Class time.
  • 12:30: Lunch! A couple of students go on a quick midday walk, before they head off to labor.
  • 1:00-4:00: Construction team works on a new bike shed while garden team harvests produce for the evening meal.
  • 4:00-6:00: Kitchen team makes dinner, and it’s free time for everyone else.
  • 6:00: Dinner
  • After dinner: Students and staff play card games, do homework and committee work, sing together, go on a stroll to the beach as the sun sets, or just hang out.

Our online application is available here!

Didn’t find an answer to your question? Email us at admissions@tidelinesinstitute.org!

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