or many Bermudians, the largest barrier to an education abroad is cost.

But the Sea Education Association (SEA), based in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and affiliated with the world famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, wants young Bermudians. And with hopes of creating an endowed scholarship for Bermudians, SEA is willing to pay to bring Bermudian college students to Woods Hole.

SEA is a semester-long programme focusing mainly on college students (although with high school courses also available). Currently, students come from universities all over North America to attend a shore component in Woods Hole, doing crash courses in oceanography, nautical science and maritime studies.

Then they set sail from either the Pacific or the Atlantic for the sea component ? navigating by the sun and stars, and conducting scientific research projects in a tall ship while stopping in ports such as Tahiti, Cuba, Alaska, the Bahamas and Hawaii.

The programme is formally affiliated with universities such as Boston University, Cornell, Villanova and the University of Pennsylvania, and universities granting credit for the programme include Princeton, Harvard, McGill, Dalhousie, Acadia and Stanford.

However the programme costs ? and that is where the proposed scholarship comes in.

"The first thing we have to do is create it," said president of SEA John Bullard.

In 1998 SEA offered four scholarships to the first four Bermudians who did the programme ? and with Claudette Baisden, 40, accepting the fourth one for the winter of 2004, that commitment has been fulfilled.

However, Mr. Bullard said: "We felt that because we do come to Bermuda every year and, though there is an interest on the part of young people in Bermuda to come to SEA, that tuition gap can be overwhelming, finding a way to continue the scholarship made sense.

"And there's no reason for it not to be endowed," he said. With SEA's continued yearly visits to Bermuda, "it really ought to be a permanent relationship."

While SEA is fairly gender diverse (60 percent of SEA students are female), the programme wished to work on getting more international students of different races and cultures. In light of this goal and the 30-year relationship already maintained with Bermuda as a port stop, strengthening ties with Bermuda seemed even more important. "SEA is a wonderful programme for students but diversity isn't the first word that comes to mind when you look at the student body," admitted Mr. Bullard. "In my own view that is our greatest weakness."

One way the programme hopes to increase diversity is through financial aid such as the Bermuda scholarship, he said. Another is through diversifying cruise tracks and building up a strong alumni base in each port stop. "If we can get people connected to our cruise tracks both bringing diversity and connecting us to places we visit, then all kinds of good things happen.

"A stop in a port can have various levels of engagement," he said. "There is every reason to spend the three days hanging out, relaxing. But there is also the opportunity to learn about the different place.

"If we're successful in building diversity at SEA we will connect more to the places we go to, such as Bermuda, providing a much fuller experience for the students."

And Bermudians would benefit from the other port stops as well as the chance to learn about the ocean. "Growing up on an Island surrounded by ocean, this is an opportunity to learn about the environment that, without this scholarship, would be impossible for many to reach," said Mr. Bullard.

The proposed scholarship would target Bermudians both at Bermuda College as well as in universities abroad, and would involve a partnership with at least one Bermudian organisation, he said.

"We're aware we don't have the local knowledge and there are a number of organisations here with missions similar to SEA. Partnerships are important."

SEA is shooting for a minimum scholarship to be endowed of $50,000, however Mr. Bullard said he hoped that would grow every year. And SEA would match money raised in Bermuda for the scholarship, he added.

"We want to work as fast as we can," he said. SEA's Atlantic ship, the , is due for a port stop in Bermuda in May, and Mr. Bullard hopes to have enough money raised by then for a recruitment event involving an open house on the .

"If you're interested, the finances shouldn't prevent you from coming to SEA."