University of Costa Rica

History

The first institution dedicated to higher education in Costa Rica was the University of Saint Thomas (Universidad de Santo Tomás), which was established in 1843. That institution maintained close ties with the Roman Catholic Church and was closed in 1888 by the progressive and anti-clerical government of President Bernardo Soto Alfaro as part of a campaign to modernize public education. The schools of law, agronomy, fine arts, and pharmacy continued to operate independently. In 1940, those four schools were re-united to establish the modern UCR, during the reformist administration of President Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia.

The UCR remained the country's sole university until the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica) and the National University of Costa Rica (Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica) were opened by the government in 1972 and 1973, respectively. Years later, in 1979, another public university opened: the Distance State University (Universidad Estatal a Distancia), modeled after the British Open University. Today, Costa Rica has five public universities (the fifth being the newly created National Technical University), and approximately fifty three small private ones, but the UCR remains the largest and most well funded institution.

Application

Costa Rican applicants to the UCR must take an admission test. This test is similar to the SAT in the United States. The score of this test is used along with the grades from the student's last years in high school to determine the student's admission score, which is later used to determine admission to a specific major and financial aid. 800 is the highest possible score on the admission test and 442 is the minimum score required for admission. Students who score 800 usually appear in the front pages of Costa Rican newspapers.

Undergraduate Admission is highly selective, having an acceptance rate of approximately 25%. In 2009, out of the 31.042 that completed the admission test, only 16.593 got above the necessary 442 points to be admitted into the university. However, being admitted to the university doesn't assure admission to a chosen departmental program, or major. In 2007, only 60% of those admitted to the university got accepted into their chosen major. The remaining 40% have to take classes that may not work for their major, hoping it will lift their grade point average to the level necessary to be admitted to the program of their liking.

International applicants must revalidate their high school certificate and grades from their country of origin at the Ministry of Public Education (Ministerio de Educación Pública) in order to apply and take the admission test. Graduate school applicants must revalidate their undergraduate certificate also.

Campuses and local branches

The main campus is located on a 100 ha (250-acre) campus in San Pedro, San Jose (Rodrigo Facio campus). Other regional campuses are located throughout the country to reach rural Costa Ricans. The regional options are:

The main campus in San Pedro offers the most diverse course curricula of any other campus, in addition to hosting the Medical School, and graduate programs.

Social relevance

The University, while neutral on most aspects of Costa Rican life, defines itself as a secular and humanist institution. The university encourages social work and research activities and in order to graduate most students must work in the Trabajo Comunal Universitario (University Community Service), which is organized by the University. The University maintains a prestigious position in Costa Rican society and is the most often cited governmental institution in Costa Rican media. Opinions generated in scientific, ethical and economic matters strongly influence Costa Rican policies and public sentiment. Costa Rican law requires the Costa Rican Congress to request from the UCR (amongst other institutions) for its opinion on whether a new law should be approved or not.

UCR counts Costa Rica's Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias, ex-Presidents, many ministers, and many heads of the country's public institutions as alumni.

The UCR is also part of the Consejo Nacional de Rectores (National Council of University Chairpersons), a watchdog body that overviews higher education quality, and recognition of university-level degrees from foreign countries.

For many years, UCR grew in close partnership with public action of the State, forming the professional staff necessary for the growth of new public institutions such as the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the Costa Rican Social Security Fund may Social (CCSS) and the State Bank.

International cooperation

The University maintains international cooperation alliances with the DAAD (the German Academic Trust), the governments of Japan, France, Mexico, Spain, Taiwan (R.O.C.), the European Union, the OAS and United States research institutions such as the Organization for Tropical Studies, whose headquarters in Costa Rica are located within UCR's central campus (Rodrigo Facio campus). Other Universities with ties to the University of Costa Rica are: University of Florida, State University of New York at Albany, University of Texas at Austin, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, Rutgers University and the University of Kansas, which is the oldest standing agreement between two universities in the Western Hemisphere.

Academic cooperation agreements have been signed with the governments of the following countries (in alphabetical order): Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan (R.O.C.), Uruguay, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela.

Organization

The government structure of the university is composed by a Legislative Body (Asamblea General), Board of Directors (Consejo Universitario), Presidency (Rectoría), and the Offices (Vicerrectorías) of Extension (Acción Social) [1], Administrative Affairs (Administación), Academic Affairs (Docencia), Research (Investigación) and Student Affairs (Vida Estudiantil) .

The UCR is divided into six major academic areas: Agricultural Sciences, Arts and Letters, Basic Sciences, Engineering, Health and Social Sciences. These areas are divided into Colleges, Schools and Departments, Research Centers and Institutes. The Graduate Studies System offers masters and doctorate degrees in a variety of academic fields. Careers are as follows:

Research institutes

The University manages 42 research institutes:

Other projects managed include one rain forest research station (Alberto Manuel Brenes Station), two agricultural research stations (Alfredo Volio and Fabio Baudrit stations [33]), one botanical garden focused on orchid conservation (Lankester Botanical Garden), a planetarium [34], three radio stations (of which two use FM and one uses AM), one weekly newspaper [35] and one television station [36].

Events

The school calendar runs from March to December, while the academic year in Costa Rican schools and high schools starts in February. The school year is divided into two semesters, plus one additional summer term that may be mandatory depending on the student's chosen career and that extends from early January to late February.

Semana U is an event held during the first semester and involves the participation of the different student organizations. There are many concerts, talks, expositions, and other activities.

The Expo UCR (sometimes called la Expo) is a bi-annual event that also showcases the University's work and developments in various areas; the seventh edition is scheduled to be held in April 2015.

Transportation

An internal free shuttle moves students around its main campus and satellite areas (fincas) including the research campus, sports facilities, and a cluster of laboratories and research centers detached from the main campus by a river and several neighborhoods. Transportation to downtown San Jose and neighboring counties (cantones) is readily available either as part of subsidized transportation routes or through San Jose's inexpensive bus and railway lines.

People

The following are notable individuals associated with the University of Costa Rica: