You are at a key and decisive moment in your life

Choosing the university you will attend to pursue your career is a turning point for you and your family. It’s important that you choose a school that can help you face the world, and while you’re at it, take advantage of your Hispanic roots, traditions and language at the University of Puerto Rico.

The Bilingual Initiative for Latino students may be an option for you so read the criteria carefully to examine this possibility.

As a student at UPR you will get classroom and hands on experience, enjoying the advantages of a full university. Plus, you will have the opportunity to experience life on the beautiful, sunbathed Caribbean. You will also enjoy meeting students who share your Hispanic roots, get acquainted with Puerto Rican culture and traditions, and becoming fluent in Spanish. These are the added benefits of pursuing an education at UPR.

Before Applying

Why the University of Puerto Rico?

• Because we offer you a first-class education at the lowest cost in all of Puerto Rico and the United States. The University is committed to provide you with the education you need to be successful, today and in the future. 
  
   
• Because the University is a prestigious institution, recognized nationally and internationally, thanks to the excellent academic performance of its professors, researchers, and students.
  
   
• Because the University of Puerto Rico has a program of studies for you in some of its eleven campuses, distributed across the country. It is the largest and most prestigious institution of higher education in Puerto Rico, and one of the very best in the Caribbean and Latin America.  It is likewise a leading Hispanic serving University in the United States.
  
  
• Because we promote and facilitate the participation of our students in a diversity of international experiences. The university has cooperative agreements with 21 excellent universities in Spain and also fosters exchanges with 134 other universities in Europe, Latin America, and the United States.
  
   
• Because we offer you the opportunity to cultivate your artistic talents through choirs, tunas (singing groups dressed in the attire of 16^th century troubadours), bands, theater groups, courses in the fine arts, music, and drama, museums, art exhibits, and much more.
  
   
• Because we offer the advanced technology required for your studies in the fields the University offers. 
   
• Because this is the alma mater of distinguished alumni who do honor to their university and to their country through their valuable contributions to Puerto Rico and to the world: Orlando Figueroa (the director of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program), Nydia Velázquez (a member of the United States Congress), Luce López-Baralt (a world authority in the field of Spanish mystical literature rooted in Islamic tradition), Alexis Massol (the winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize for 2002, the world’s most prestigious prize in the environmental field), Eduardo Santiago Delpín (a world authority in the field of organ transplants), and a great many more.

What kind of institution is the University of Puerto Rico?

What is the University of Puerto Rico´s Bilingual Initiative for Latino Students?

Three campuses are currently participating in the Bilingual Initiative for Latino Students. These are the Río Piedras Campus, the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey and the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao.

What are the Program Benefits?

Given its nature as a public institution, the University of Puerto Rico substantially underwrites the educational costs of its students, which makes our enrollment costs the lowest in the country. In addition, the UPR has a Financial Aid Office on each campus. These offices award scholarships, loans, and work-study opportunities to eligible students both graduate and undergraduate. Among the kinds of financial aid available, the following stand out: Puerto Rico Legislative Grants, Pell Grants, Federal Supplementary Grants, and Federal Student Loans, in the form of Stafford and Perkins Loans.

• Waiver of application fee.
• Tuition fees paid by residents of Puerto Rico: $51.00 per credit hour for the entering class of 2010, plus an annual maintenance and medical insurance.*
• A first year of general education courses in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences, offered in English.**
• A specially designed intensive course in Spanish with a strong immersion experience in Puerto Rican culture.
• Academic support systems designed to enhance student success.
• Participation – if qualified – in the Financial Aid Programs administered by the University.
• Housing location services to insure the availability of quality affordable housing for participants. 

* Cost per credit for the entering class of 2010 is $51.00 per credit. The cost per credit will remain the same for six years , for that specific class. For entering classes beyond 2010 the cost per credit will vary.

** Sections offered in English will depend on the number of students admitted each year. In any case, students will receive individual academic support services, including assistance in the development of their language skills in Spanish.

General Information of participating campuses and what bachelor study programs are available.

To access the Academic Offering please link to: Bachelor Study programs at Participating Campuses

Río Piedras Campus The Río Piedras Campus is an urban university offering a wide variety of programs from bachelor to doctoral degrees. With over 19,000 students enrolled, this campus is the perfect place for those interested in the humanities and exact sciences. If you are interested in interdisciplinary studies, communications, architecture, planning or law, this campus should be your first choice. It is the only campus offering bachelor degrees in Environmental Sciences, Geography and Environmental Design.  Río Piedras Campus PO Box 21907 San Juan, PR 00931-1907 Website : www.uprrp.edu University of PuertoRico at Cayey The University of Puerto Rico at Cayey is located in a beautiful, subtropical setting on the Cordillera Central and is a comprehensive, four- year liberal arts college. Its bachelor program in the natural and social sciences, education, business administration and the humanities are complemented by a strong emphasis in the arts. The population is over 3,600. UPR at Cayey Antonio R. Barceló Ave. Cayey, PR 00736       Website: www.cayey.upr.edu Office of Admissions Telephone ( 787) 738-2161 Ext. 3202, 3208 University of Puerto Rico at Humacao  The University of Puerto Rico at Humacao is located on the east coast of the island with over 4,300 students. It is a comprehensive, four-year college offering several unique programs in their continuous adaptation to the needs of the industrial community – industrial chemistry, computer mathematics and physics applied to electronics. Costal marine biology, wildlife management, microbiology and other general biology are other fields of study. The campus has a research laboratory for marine and wildlife management studies located in the  Fajardo Lighthouse. UPR at Humacao CUH Post Office Station 100 Hw. 908 Humacao, PR 00791-4300 Website: www.uprh.edu Office of Admissions Telephone (787) 850-0000 Ext. 9812, 9814

Additional Information on Programs of Study.

The three campuses offer articulated transfer programs to other unit in the UPR System. Among these programs the campuses have articulated transfer in engineering.  This allows you to complete the first two years of study at a participating campus and transfer to the Mayagüez campus for the last three years while retaining the tuition benefits of the Bilingual Initiative.

How do I apply for admission to the Bilingual Initiative
for Latino Students of the University of Puerto Rico?

1. Have a Latino background and be a resident of the United States.
   Graduation from an accredited High School, or GED.
   
   
2. Results of the ACT or SAT college entrance exam. The program does not accept college transfer students. 
   
   
3. The University of Puerto Rico uses a formula combining SAT or ACT scores and the student’s High School Grade Point Average (GPA). For details, go to our webpage.

Admission Procedures 

1. Fill out the online application. Apply-By Web
   
   This application will be available online on October 15th,2009 and will close on February 28, 2010. After that date you will not be able to apply for academic year 2010-2011.
   
   
2. Fill out the application before the deadline, making sure that you select the Bilingual Initiative option.  Be advised that you can select up to three options, which can include different programs or campuses. Make a copy for your records and submit the application electronically.
   
   
3. Take the SAT or ACT and have scores sent to the University of Puerto Rico. For students taking the SAT the only requirement is the SAT I. The program codes for submitting SAT Scores to the University are as follows:
   
   - Río Piedras Campus-program code number 0979
   - Humacao Campus- program code number 0874
   - Cayey Campus- program code number 0981
   
   
4. Have your school send an official transcript including your first semester senior grades. If your school does not use a 4.0 system to inform grades the school must convert your grades to the 4.0 system or provide a conversion table. Official transcripts must be sent to the following address:
   
   
   Bilingual Initiative for Latino Students
   Admissions Office
   Jardín Botánico Sur
   1187 Calle Flamboyán
   San Juan, Puerto Rico 00926-1117
   
   

Apply online now...

Are you a high school student?, apply online now using UPR's Apply-By Web

Who do I contact to answer questions?

You can contact Dr. Diana Rivera Viera, Coordinator for the Bilingual Initiative through emails.
Write to bilingual.initiative@upr.edu or call (787) 250-0000 ext. 4613 or 2002. E mails are preferred. We will be happy to assist you.

Bilingual Initiative for Latino Students
Admissions Office

University of Puerto Rico
Vice Presidency of Student Affairs
Jardín Botánico Sur
1187 Calle Flamboyán
San Juan, PR 00926-1117

If you have any question concerning this initiative, send an email to bilingual.initiative@upr.edu.

Other information on the UPR

The Honors Studies Program offers undergraduate students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher the opportunity to enrich their education in an interdisciplinary framework. This program sponsors a series of activities intended to foster research, creative work, and critical analysis.

The UPR’s integrated, computerized resources make available to you a catalog of over one million titles held in its libraries and seminar rooms, which can be accessed from computers available in the libraries themselves or remotely, over the Internet, from any location, on or off campus, at no cost whatsoever.

• Informal Learning Centers

At the UPR, we have a variety of centers dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of culture and knowledge that provide additional opportunities for learning and intellectual development. In the Arts and the Humanities, there are the Museum of Anthropology, History, and Art and the Francisco Oller Art Gallery at Río Piedras, the Fine Arts Museum at Mayagüez, the Casa Roig Museum at Humacao, the Dr. Pío López Martínez Museum at Cayey, and the Museum of Puerto Rican Culture at Ponce. In the Sciences, our resources include the Planetarium at Mayagüez, the Integrated Science Multiple Use Laboratory at Arecibo, the Pharmacy Museum at Medical Sciences, and the Astronomical Laboratory at Humacao.

The academic life of a university is not limited to teaching and the cultivation of abilities and skills. It is especially committed to the creation of knowledge: the search for creative solutions to real problems, the effort to understand our world and the universe around us better, as well as artistic and literary creation. At the University of Puerto Rico, an important part of this work takes place in sophisticated laboratories and important research centers, where graduate and undergraduate students do research under the guidance of highly regarded experts in their respective areas of specialization.