| EARTH University | |
| Native Name: | Universidad EARTH |
| Established: | 1990[1] |
| President: | Dr. Arturo Condo |
| Provost: | Daniel Sherrard |
| Students: | +400 |
| Website: | www.earth.ac.cr |
EARTH University (Universidad EARTH, Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda) is a private, non-profit university that offers one program of study: an undergraduate licenciatura degree in agricultural sciences. The university invests in students – predominantly from Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa – working to become leaders of positive socio-economic and environmental change for their home countries and the world at large through a techno-scientific education emphasizing Social entrepreneurship
In the 1980s, EARTH University was developed through a partnership between a group of Costa Ricans, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Costa Rican Government.[2] The cornerstone of the first campus building was laid on 2 April 1989 and after years of fundraising, campus planning and curriculum development, the first class was inaugurated on March 26, 1990. The first graduation ceremony was held in December 1993.
Currently, EARTH has about 400 students enrolled from 41 different countries. 51 percent of the student body is women and 81 percent is from rural communities.[3] Each enrolling class comprises about 100 students chosen from about 1,300 applicants. Most students receive scholarships to cover all or part of the $29,000 tuition.[4]
The 52981m2 campus on a 33.76km2 property in Guácimo includes educational facilities, a library [5] specializing in agricultural and environmental topics, laboratories, a rainforest reserve with primary and secondary forests, and a farm dedicated to agricultural and cattle production. The second campus, EARTH-La Flor,[6] was donated to the university in 2005 by the family of Daniel Oduber Quirós, a previous president of Costa Rica. EARTH-La Flor is 3700acres.[3]
EARTH University approaches education based on two principles:
EARTH Plants the Future was a tree planting project organized by the university and its graduates as part of its twentieth anniversary celebration. They planned to plant at least 200,000 trees, including almond trees, espavé, mahogany or Guanacastes[7] in more than 26 countries where its alumni reside for World Environment Day on 5 June 2010.[8]