Patterns of inequality at the University of Costa Rica

The exceptional growth of educational systems over the last two decades, it was thought, would encourage social mobility and thus contribute to the democratization of Latin American societies. But the experience in most countries has not confirmed this. As a result, this study examines in detail the role of the university in Costa Rica, to evaluate the widely held view that educational in general, and higher education in particular, functions to promote modernization and social mobility. Does the Costa Rican public university system, in particular the University of Costa Rica (UCR), actually work to increase equality of opportunity within Costa Rican society? In order to address this question, this study argues that the university is not located in a vacuum. It also argues that the analysis of higher education policies in Costa Rica and its future prospects of development cannot be carried out without reference to the wider structural changes that have occurred in the region as a whole and in the rest of the world