Education Economy of Puerto Rico

preschool education, care, , services (including head start , head start) free low income families private daycares being common , within walking distance in urban areas. primary , secondary education compulsory , free regardless of income through more 1,400 public schools. ten public schools considered prestigious locally, of them being magnet schools, graduate highest scores on island of college board s peau (latin america s equivalent of sat). 2 examples of these cimatec , croem focus on science, technology, , mathematics. there more 700 private schools on island, of them catholic. constitutionally illegal deny entrance or take action against students profess difference faith school attend or intend attend. students differing denominations legally freed attending religious activities on schools attend. prominent private schools include academia del perpetuo socorro, academia maria reina, academia san jorge, colegio marista guaynabo, colegio san ignacio de loyola, , colegio san josé maintain high rate of students being accepted prominent universities in united states.

there plethora of junior colleges on island, prominent being huertas college, icpr junior college, instituto de banca y comercio, , national university college (nuc). there 1 state-run system, puerto rico technological institute, possesses several prestigious programs @ local level , costs below market prices. abundance of junior colleges—and presence of other institutions of higher education— percentage of puerto ricans bachelor s degrees, @ 18.3% according 2000 census, comparable lower tier of american states.

not single college , university in puerto rico ranks in top 700 global rankings, state university, university of puerto rico (upr), appearing on ranks. several schools , programs appear on different rankings not single 1 of these considered prestigious ranking system neither nationally nor internationally. 3 major university systems on island university of puerto rico 11 campuses, ana g. méndez university system (suagm) 3 major campuses , satellites, , interamerican university of puerto rico (inter) 9 campuses , 2 specialized schools.

the prestige , eliteness of university of puerto rico within caribbean , puerto rico unparalleled:

the system, however, highly politicized board of trustees, chancellor, rectors, deans, , program directors changing whenever political party gains power (about every 4 or 8 years) university government-owned corporation. flagship campus prone student strikes, averaging 1 strike every 3 years halts whole campus, system whole averaging 1 strike every 5 years halts whole system. strikes derive extremely cheap costs per credit institution offers: $55 usd per undergraduate credit , $117 per graduate credit. highly unlikely student graduates college debt full pell grant covers costs low income students, , don t receive full pell grant or pell grant @ can cover tuition costs. economic accessibility comes @ price residents of puerto rico however: 9.6% of general budget of government of puerto rico automatically assigned university law. economy shrunk did university s endowment, suffocating highly indebted university incapable of generating enough revenue maintain itself. because of this, board of trustees increased tuition costs, led strikes. other strikes caused mere mention of lowering aforementioned percentage automatically assigned university though no bill has ever been filed such purpose.

in terms of specialized schools , programs, not single school , program in puerto rico ranked in prestigious system. university of puerto rico possesses largest academic offer 472 academic programs of 32 lead doctorate. upr system business school, engineering school, law school, nursing school, school of architecture, , school of medicine. schools , programs rank first on island although competition has increased in last decades private universities gaining track @ fast pace. ana g. méndez system, interamerican university, , university of sacred heart possess business school university of sacred heart leading in non-profit management , social enterprise, in communications. polytechnic university of puerto rico , turabo university both have engineering schools polytechnic university leading in computer security , offering master s degree in computer science on island. ranking regarding law schools subjective university of puerto rico school of law, interamerican university of puerto rico school of law, , eugenio maría de hostos school of law considered best although upr still leads in constitutional law. in terms of medicine university of puerto rico school of medicine , university of puerto rico school of dental medicine unmatched, interamerican university school of optometry being school of optometry on island. carlos albizu university leads in psychology while metropolitan university leads in environmental management although upr leads far in environmental science. in terms of arts, atlantic university college leads in digital arts far, while conservatory of music of puerto rico , escuela de artes plásticas y diseño de puerto rico considered prestigious in music , arts respectively; both far. school of international relations created in november 2013 under name of morales carrión diplomatic , foreign relations school, ascribed department of state of puerto rico , still in development. there no veterinary schools on island veterinarians studying abroad @ universidad autónoma de santo domingo in dominican republic.

almost junior colleges, colleges, universities, , schools accredited middle states association of colleges , schools. specific programs tend possess respective accreditation (such abet, aacsb, lcme, , on) although not uncommon programs not possess expected accreditation—for example, 2 business schools accredited aacsb.