The University of Costa Rica houses a permanent average population of 40 000 students, distributed between its main campus and its regional campuses.
The main campus of the University of Costa Rica is the Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, named after Rodrigo Facio Brenes, former President of the University who in the 50s and 60s led the reform that had made of the Institution one of the best known in the hemisphere.
The Rodrigo Facio Campus is located in San Pedro de Montes de Oca, very close to the heart of the capital city, just three kilometers eastward of San Jose downtown, and it is divided into three large sectors:
The first and oldest covers a total area of 31.5 hectares and consists of most of the academic and administrative buildings with more than 200 000 square meters constructed.
The second sector is the Ciudad de la Investigación of the University of Costa Rica. This research city is located to the north-east of the main campus and houses in 21 hectares twelve research units, two academic units, a daycare center for students’ children, a student residence, and a planetarium donated by the Government of Japan.
The third sector is composed of the sports facilities. In an area of 25 hectares, it includes the School of Physical Education and Sports, three multipurpose gyms, a swimming area with two pools, and a stadium – the Estadio Ecológico. It also has areas to practice tennis, beach volleyball, soccer, basketball, and outdoors athletics.
The delicate balance between the colorful buildings and the natural beauty of the campus is its most striking feature. Abundant green areas, an impressive variety of trees that flourish at different times of the year, birds species that have set their roots in this natural context, and even the presence of two biological reserves, plus the many areas for students to coexist, interact, and study constitute the permanent scenario of the Rodrigo Facio campus. These features have turned the campus into a must-see destination for the many tourists that visit our country every year.
