The University of Georgia Foundation has agreed to sell the university’s Costa Rica residential and research campus in San Luis de Monteverde to the Council on International Educational Exchange, the oldest and largest nonprofit study-abroad and intercultural exchange organization in the U.S., according to a UGA press release.
The University of Georgia Foundation Board of Trustees approved the transaction at its meeting on Feb. 22.
Proceeds from the sale will be final April 30 and will allow UGA to create a $4 million endowment for annual scholarships to send more university students to study in Central America, South America and Africa.
CIEE has also agreed to continue the operation of existing UGA programs in Costa Rica throughout 2019, and to invest in enhancing the Costa Rica campus so it can better serve all of the future students who go there to study.
“This sale will enable the UGA Foundation to have an even greater impact on students by providing new study-abroad opportunities for more University of Georgia students every year,” said Bill Douglas, chairman of the UGA Foundation Board, in the release.
The University of Georgia is plans to maintain a relationship with CIEE so UGA faculty and students can continue to use the campus in Costa Rica, and other programs worldwide.
“With a vast worldwide portfolio of academic, internship and service learning programs delivered across its 60-plus international sites, CIEE has the expertise to manage the campus as a hub for student and research groups from a diverse set of universities,” said CIEE President and CEO James P. Pellow in the release.
CIEE will continue to engage responsibly with local communities, as it has done since the organization began operating in Monteverde in 1989.