Education in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans are considered highly literate people. The country boasts of 93% literacy in those 10 years old or over and is the most literate population in Central America . Many of the country's early fathers were former teachers who were very concerned about the education in Costa Rica . The country became one of the first in the world to make the education both free and obligatory in 1869. This was funded by the state's share of the great coffee wealth. In those times only one in ten Costa Ricans could read and write, then by 1920, 20% of the population was literate. By the 1970s, 89% were able to read and write. Since the 70s the country has invested more than 28% of the national budget on primary and secondary education. President Figueres, elected in 1994, advocated a computer in each of the nation's 4000 schools, plus obligatory English classes.

Elementary and High schools can be found in every community and the students are not required to pay for assistance; a small charge of about $20 per year is applied.  Elementary schools have 6 year levels and high schools have 5. Each is divided in two cycles and upon completion of each cycle, the students are required to pass tests on all subjects studied during those years.  The most popular of these tests are the Bachillerato Tests, which are required to get the high school diploma needed for admission to Universities. In rural areas, the libraries are the only way for adults to continue education beyond the sixth grade. The country, with approximately 100 libraries, has a desperate need for books and for funds to support the hundreds of additional libraries that the country needs.

Until 1940, the country lacked a single university but now has four state-funded universities and a score of small private ones. The University of Costa Rica (UCR), is the largest and oldest university and enrolls some 35,000 students, mostly on scholarships; even paying full tuition is not hard as it rarely is more than $200 a semester. The main campus is in the San Jose community of San Pedro, but UCR also has regional centers in Alajuela, Turrialba, Puntarenas and Cartago. The National University in Heredia, offers a variety of liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies to 13,000 students. Cartago's Technical Institute of Costa Rica (ITCR) specializes in science and technology, and seeks to train people for agriculture, industry and mining. And the State Correspondence University , founded in 1978, is modeled after the United Kingdom 's Open University and has 32 regional centers offering 15 degree courses in health, education, business administration, and the liberal arts.