About EARTH

EARTH–Guácimo
In the heart of the tropical Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica resides EARTH University. The 8,342-acre campus includes classrooms, laboratories, sustainable academic farms, sporting and recreational facilities, chief operational offices, student and faculty residences, a commercial banana plantation, reforested areas and a large, protected rainforest reserve.

EARTH–La Flor
Our second campus is located in the dry tropics of Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province. Donated to EARTH in 2005 by the family of former Costa Rican President Daniel Oduber Quirós, this 3,700-acre property is being transformed into a hub for research, development and innovation. It also is home to EARTH’s Master’s in Agribusiness Innovation program as well as the seven-week stays of third-year students implementing sustainable development projects in nearby communities.

EARTH University’s curriculum is based on four formative areas designed to prepare students with the competencies required to respond to the needs of today’s world, including:

• Technical and scientific knowledge: Ensuring EARTH alumni have the professional competencies to sustainably manage agricultural operations and precious natural resources.
• Personal development, attitudes and values: Fostering self-awareness, empathy, respect, tolerance, teamwork, effective communication and life-long love of learning along with the promotion of intercultural peace and civil dialog.
• Ethical entrepreneurship: Sparking in students an entrepreneurial spirit to proactively generate opportunities for others and resolve solutions to persistent challenges. Students form and operate a business venture during their first three years studying at EARTH, thereby gaining a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to succeed in business while benefiting society.
• Social and environmental awareness and commitment: Developing students’ personal sense of social and environmental responsibility and strengthening their capacity to generate positive change.

The teaching and learning process at EARTH University is dynamic and participatory, and EARTH professors serve as facilitators of learning. Our educational approach is based on two principals:
1. Student-centered learning: Students, alone or in groups, explore real challenges and become active participants in generating knowledge, as opposed to passive receptors of information.
2. Experiential learning: Students learn through deliberate experiences designed to encourage learning and are given opportunities to build knowledge and develop abilities which they can put into practice while they are learning.

Since November 2006, EARTH’s curriculum has been accredited by the Costa Rican Higher Education Accreditation System (SINAES in Spanish), assuring our students and alumni a high-quality education that is continually updated.

In addition, EARTH is the first institution in Central America to have its academic program certified regionally as part of a pilot program of the Ibero-American Network of Accreditation Agencies (RIACES in Spanish) and SINAES.

EARTH students are recruited based on their academic and leadership potential, vocation, values and social and environmental commitment.

• EARTH has approximately 436 students from 36 countries.
• 48% are women.
• Approximately 81% are from rural communities.

EARTH has more than 2,500 alumni from approximately 52 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe.

• 81% lives in their country of origin. Of those, 82% are currently working.
• Among those respondents with their own or family business, 40% report that they have created jobs.
• Nearly 41% of graduates work in the private sector; of this group 20% have their own or family business.
• 41% report having a positive impact on the following sectors:
• 88% report having a positive impact on the business sector.
• 91% report having a positive social impact.
• 66% report having a positive environmental impact.
• 75% report having had an impact in the technical / scientific sector.
• 29% are active volunteers in their community.

EARTH has extensive experience searching for innovative solutions to challenges in sustainable agriculture, environmental conservation and natural resource management. Research at EARTH is applicable and actively involves both students and faculty.

EARTH has collaborated with institutions, such as the University of Florida, NASA and the National Biodiversity Institute of Costa Rica (INBio), to conduct collaborative research projects. Examples of research projects include: the search for a cure for Chagas disease, identification of agricultural uses for the by-products of ethanol production from sugarcane and the development of bio-indictor field guides for on-site water quality assessments.

since 1990, more than 200,000 individuals in the communities surrounding EARTH benefited from the Institution’s Community Development Program, which includes a service-learning course where students work with small-scale, local producers on their farms and with organized groups to promote sustainable community development.

As part of this program:

• Since its inception, the University has installed more than 1300 bio-digesters to help farmers convert manure and other organic waste into methane gas that can be used for cooking. Several hundred more have been installed in Costa Rica by individuals or institutions trained by EARTH, and by EARTH alumni around the world.
• Thousands of people have been trained in improving the management of solid waste, in improving the relationship with the environment and the conservation of natural resources.
• Hundreds of families of small-scale producers have participated in training processes and workshops exchanging knowledge, in order to increase their income, improve their diet, family health and improve their quality of life.

EARTH University and its commercial banana operation employ more than 600 individuals, providing fair wages and benefits, professional training, development opportunities and use of its library and sports and recreational facilities.

• In 2019, EARTH emitted about 1,879,34 tons of carbon dioxide.
• EARTH University is a recipient of the highest distinction awarded by the Ecological Blue Flag Program in Costa Rica, a government initiative that seeks to promote public health, in the following categories: Non-coastal Community, Climate Change, Promotion of Community Health, Protected Natural Spaces, Seal of Health Quality and Neutral Climate Community.
• More than 69% of the solid domestic waste produced on campus is recycled, transformed or reused.
• Since 2007, energy consumption on the main campus has decreased nearly 36% thanks to the conversion to energy-efficient lighting and cooling systems.
• Liquid petroleum gas consumption in EARTH’s cafeteria has decreased by 30% since 2014 when EARTH installed a bio-digester that collects wastewater from the University’s cafeteria, student dorms, laboratories and administration buildings, producing biogas to fuel three burners in the Institution’s cafeteria. This is one of six bio-digesters on campus.
• Most of the vegetables, tubers, meats and dairy products served by the University’s cafeteria are grown organically and sustainably on EARTH’s academic farms.

EARTH welcomes more than 14,000 visitors every year to its campus who come as part of educational tourism programs, conferences and seminars or to learn about the Institution and its academic model.

EARTH offers study-abroad programs and internships for college students from around the world. In addition to these exchange programs, in collaboration with other institutions of higher learning, EARTH conducts short courses in sustainable agriculture, tropical agro-forestry, renewable energies, rural tourism and community engagement.

As part of its commitment to provide opportunities to young people who want to make a difference in the world, but lack the resources for a higher education, EARTH operates a commercial enterprise and markets EARTH University products in Costa Rica, Latin America and the United States. Profits support EARTH’s scholarship program and operational expenses.

Sustainable banana, natural cleaning products, biological agricultural inputs, dried fruits and natural yogurt.
Products for Latin America: biological agricultural inputs.
Products for the United States (exclusively sold in Whole Foods Market): sustainable bananas, dehydrated fruits.
Products for Europe: Sustainable banana

EARTH offers a one-of-a-kind educational opportunity to those who wish to become leaders of positive change for their countries and the world. The experiential curriculum takes an expansive view of sustainable agriculture and gives students the opportunity to run their own business, complete an international internship and work with members of the communities to address real problems.

The admissions process is highly personalized and all candidates are interviewed, both individually and in a group setting to assess qualities that are difficult to evaluate in an exam, such as leadership potential and values.

Thanks to the generous scholarship support provided by committed donors around the world, we have been able to make the dream of a college education come true for hundreds of young men and women from disadvantaged rural communities who otherwise would never have received higher education.

Financial aid is awarded based on need and the availability of scholarships.