Founded: 2000 (UWC in 2006) Student Profile: 200 aged 16 – 19
Location: Santa Ana, Costa Rica

In 2006 UWC Costa Rica joined the family of United World Colleges, thanks to a substantial commitment from the Norwegian Grieg Foundation and a partnership with the SOS Children’s Villages organisation. Located on a five acre campus and surrounded by colourful gardens and a wide variety of trees and tropical plants, the school was originally founded as the International SOS College.

UWC Costa Rica is the first completely bilingual UWC, with teaching and examinations in English and Spanish, opening up opportunities to a wider range of students, and creating a fascinating, harmonious and diverse culture.
Equally importantly, a culture of care is firmly in place within UWC Costa Rica, and mechanisms exist to support students with different emotional and educational needs. With students from a wide range of backgrounds, the College endeavours to help each individual succeed in the UWC system and contribute their own unique experiences to the community.

UWC Costa Rica’s approach is built around three fundamental pillars: peace, environment and multiculturalism, with an emphasis on Latin America. The peace pillar focuses on achieving harmonious coexistence, promoting communication and dialogue and emphasising similarities between people, nations and cultures and includes a conflict resolution programme. The environment pillar means that ecology and sustainability are considered in all aspects of College life – from the examples teachers provide for their students’ coursework to the design and maintenance of the College campus and the community service programmes. Finally, the multiculturalism pillar reflects UWC Costa Rica’s aim of creating cultural, ethnic and religious coexistence and an exceptionally harmonious bilingual culture within the College.