Welcome to UGA Costa Rica!

Our Mission

The mission of UGA Costa Rica (UGA CR) is to provide academically-rigorous instruction, relevant community outreach and service-learning experiences—both on our campus in San Luis and in Athens—and cutting-edge research opportunities for University of Georgia undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty, their colleagues and peers from other domestic and international institutions of higher education, and nature-based tourists.  In addition to the experiential options available on the UGA CR campus, supplemental experiences are provided in other parts of Costa Rica and throughout Latin America.

 

UGA CR embodies the mission of the University of Georgia by transforming the institution’s three core goals—maximizing research opportunities, building the new learning environment, and competing in a global economy—and making them uniquely fit into the context of the Costa Rica campus.  Core to the mission of UGA CR are the philosophy and institutional culture of socio-cultural, ecological, and economic sustainability as guiding principles of operations.

  1. UGA CR maximizes research opportunities through our efforts to provide an infrastructure which promotes, facilitates, and increases field-based undergraduate, graduate, and post-doc research with an emphasis in research useful to the larger community.
  2. UGA CR continues to build new learning environments for students and faculty through myriad international education opportunities including: study abroad, internships, workshops, symposia, conferences and service-learning programs.
  3. UGA CR literally competes in the global economy as a year-round satellite campus, which offers educational, nature-based tourism opportunities to the public as well as housing academic programs. 
  4. The UGA CR campus strives to implement a holistic sustainable operation and is third-party certified as a sustainable tourism operation by Costa Rica’s Certified Sustainable Tourism program.  in addition, UGA CR makes efforts to adopt sustainable practices for the Athens Office.
  5. UGA CR strives to provide superior customer service to all of our clients.  This includes potential, current, and past students, faculty, and supporting staff related to academic programs, research, and public service initiatives, as well as tourists who will visit, are visiting, and have visited our campus.

 

UGA Costa Rica Office - Athens, GA

In Fall 2005, UGA opened the Costa Rica Office within the Office of International Education on the University of Georgia’s main campus in Athens, Georgia.  Our Athens Office develops and administers UGA's study abroad programs in Costa Rica, works with faculty to identify and develop research opportunities, oversees student internships, creates alumni and continuing education tours, and hosts alumni events for students and faculty who have participated in UGA Costa Rica study abroad programs.

 

UGA Costa Rica Campus - San Luis, Costa Rica

In 2001 the UGA Foundation purchased a 155-acre working farm and ecotourism facility in the upper San Luis Valley of the Monteverde region in Costa Rica. While it remains a working farm and we continue to welcome tourists to stay with us, a fully operational campus has been developed on this site.

An administrative staff oversees daily campus operations, provides in-country logistical support for UGA and external study abroad programs, researchers and tourists, coordinates on-site and off-site activities, and facilitates the integration of UGA Costa Rica within the broader community.  UGA Costa Rica is proud of the fact that our campus staff of approximately 30, is comprised of all local residents, and nearly all have family roots in San Luis.

 

The Ecolodge San Luis at the UGA Costa Rica Campus

Also referred to as the "cabinas," the Ecolodge San Luis is comprised of 12 private rooms nestled into the forest edge.  Wake up to the sunrise or sit back at sunset on your balcony at the Ecolodge San Luis and enjoy magnificent views of the Monteverde Cloudforest Reserve and the San Luis River Valley.  The Ecolodge San Luis serves as faculty housing for UGA study abroad programs and as the primary lodging facility for tourists visiting the UGA Costa Rica Campus.