Semester in Costa Rica's varied course options help you earn credit toward graduation while gaining fluency in Spanish at Universidad Veritas. The University is well regarded for its classes in architecture, design, and art, and it is also a great place to learn about Costa Rican history, culture, environment, politics, and more!

Overview

Classes meet for 48-60 contact hours per semester/trimester, or 4-5 classroom hours per week, for a total of 3-4 credits, depending on the class. During the Spring and Fall Semester programs, courses are taught in 12 week blocks, in the afternoons. Before you go abroad, it is best to get approval for twice the number of elective classes you intend to take during your chosen term. This gives you some flexibility in setting up your class schedule. Think about courses required for your major, but also courses that fulfill your elective requirements. For each term, you can choose up to four courses included with your CIS Abroad tuition and fees. These four courses can be any combination of electives and Intensive Spanish language courses. For example, you could take two Intensive Spanish courses and two electives, or all four electives.

Course descriptions and catalog

Spanish Language courses

For descriptions of Spanish Intensive courses, please click here.

Elective courses

For descriptions of English and Spanish Elective courses, please click here.

For a breakdown of which electives are offered for each term of the 2024 calendar year, please click here.

For a breakdown of which electives are offered for each term of the 2025 calendar year, please click here.

Note: Course availability may vary from semester to semester. You can use courses from previous terms as a good indication of what to expect for your semester, as they don't typically vary too much from year to year. Once new courses have been finalized they will be updated here.

Approval for Spanish-language courses

Spanish Placement Exam

Once you're accepted into the program, we will send you instructions for taking a two-part online Spanish placement exam so that Veritas can begin to assess your language level. Following the online (written) placement exam, you will be assessed orally by staff in Costa Rica via an online platform, such as zoom, allowing you to be placed in the most appropriate language level before you arrive in Costa Rica. Language courses are taught in 4-week blocks, Monday through Friday, from 9:00am to 12:00pm and are wroth 4 credits. You will be tested at the end of each block and have the opportunity to move to a higher level. Note: You do not need to take the placement exam if you want to take basic/beginner level Spanish.