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Education Vacations in the U.S. and Abroad

Featured video

CAU Director Catherine Penner describes some of the upcoming study tours, including a Great Lakes cruise, Scottish golfing, an expedition to Siberia and the Mongolian steppes, and a family safari to Tanzania.

Our 2009 catalog

CAU catalog (PDF)

We're pleased to announce that the CAU 2009 catalog is now available! We hope you'll join us for one or more of our outstanding on-campus summer programs or off-campus study tours.


Download the new 2009 print catalog!

Thought-provoking. Challenging. Fun!

Every summer, at the height of Ithaca's most glorious season, hundreds of CAU faithful and newcomers arrive at Cornell to enjoy the very best of college life--without fear of a single pop quiz. Whether Cornellians by degree, family connection, or adoption, they settle into what one CAU regular calls "an educational camp for grown-ups without the angst of adolescence."

Whatever their alma mater, age, or occupation, CAUers come to Cornell to stretch themselves as they relax. They share the joys of intellectual challenge, cultural stimulation, and family recreation in a friendly and beautiful setting. Many describe CAU's zest, energy, and warmth of community as transforming.

In "Once More to the Lake," Cornellian E. B. White writes of retreating from the perilous shores of the Atlantic in the turbulent summer before the U.S. entered World War II, taking his son to the "trustworthy" lake in Maine where White had spent his boyhood summers. May the trials of our own times be more fleeting than those. Still, we'd love to have you join us this coming summer to test the waters of Cornell and Cayuga and to see, like White, what has and has not changed. We promise you intriguing ideas, thoroughly engaging classmates, and, at the heart of it all, one or more of Cornell's outstanding faculty members.

If you have questions or would welcome advice as you mull over our 2009 options, both the on-campus classes and the programs we offer around the country and the world, please contact us.

With warm regards from all of us at CAU,

Catherine Penner '68 Director

Win a free CAU class!

Win a week at CAU!

The contest has closed. Congratulations to the winners:

  • Arlene Licata
  • Supida Chaixanien

You can still sign up for our e-mail list and receive information about our exciting on- and off-campus programs.