Costa Rica is asking the United States to expand its collaboration in scholarships to Costa Rican students in that country.
This week, Chancellor Manuel Ventura met in Washington with Marianne Craven, Director General of Academic Programs, as well as Mary Kirk, Director of Academic Exchange Programs, and other members of the Office of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the State Department.
The objective of the meeting was to initiate conversations to reach the goal of expanding the scholarship programs currently being developed by the United States in Costa Rica.
At present, the US government grants Costa Rican students an annual average of seven Fulbright Graduate Scholarships and four scholarships corresponding to the Visiting Scholars Research Program. These are programs that stand out for their high quality and positive impact on the development of the countries where the scholarships are applied.
Additionally, the United States grants a significant number of scholarships each year for short courses and to study the English language.
Ventura expressed the interest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with institutions such as the Ministry of Public Education, state universities and other interested entities to determine the needs of the country and make proposals.
Also, the representatives in the meeting, expressed their willingness to work to expand the number of participants in the current programs and highlighted Costa Rica as a destination for students from the United States.