Study in Puerto Rico

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Puerto Rico, officially known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States, with a total geographic area of just over 3,500 square miles.  Located in the northeastern part of the Caribbean Sea, the island territory is situated east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.  Puerto Rico comprises an archipelago that, in addition to the main island of Puerto Rico, also includes numerous smaller islands, of which the largest are Vieques, Culebra and Mona.  By total area, Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles Islands, which also includes Cuba; Hispaniola, which the countries of the Dominican Republic and Haiti share; and Jamaica.  The capital of Puerto Rico is San Juan, which is also the commonwealth’s largest city.

As of the 2010 United States census, Puerto Rico had an estimated population of 3.7 million.  On the same census, most Puerto Ricans self-identified as white, mostly of European heritage.  However, a more recent study suggests that approximately half or more of the population possesses native Amerindian heritage, in addition to their European ancestry.  There are also smaller groups of Chinese and Lebanese on the islands, in addition to the French, Corsican, Portuguese, German and Italian natives that came to Puerto Rico during the 19^th century.

Puerto Rico has a pair of official languages:  Spanish and English.  English is the primary language used in government and commerce, but Spanish serves as the language of instruction in Puerto Rican schools.  Spanish is also the most widely spoken language among the Puerto Rican people, the first language of the majority of its inhabitants.  English is taught as a second language in all public and private schools, beginning in elementary school and continuing through the university level.  Since 1511, when the first diocese was founded in Puerto Rico, Roman Catholicism has been the national and most widely practiced religious faith.  Recently, however, the various Protestant faiths have been the fastest-growing, now accounting for around 25 percent of all believers.

Education in Puerto Rico

Education in Puerto Rico is supervised and regulated by the Department of Education, a bureau of the Puerto Rican government.  It provides both primary and secondary education at no cost to all Puerto Rican children, education that is compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 18.  The system, which is modeled identically after that of the United States, includes four main levels or stages of education:  primary or elementary education, junior high or middle school, high school and higher education.

Primary education spans six years (Grades 1-6).  Students enter the elementary stage of education at age six, following a one-year kindergarten program, which is also compulsory in Puerto Rico.  The curriculum in Puerto Rican elementary schools is very broad, featuring subjects such as reading education, language (Spanish and English), mathematics, science, social studies, history, geography, physical education and the arts.

Secondary education in Puerto Rico is divided between two levels:  junior high or middle school and high school.  These levels typically span two and four years respectively, with a curriculum that features many of the same subjects mentioned above, albeit more advanced.  Following successful completion of the 12^th grade, the final year of high school, students are awarded a diploma and are eligible to apply for admission at the university or college level.
Higher education in Puerto Rico is provided by some 50 institutions, including universities, colleges and junior colleges, along with many vocational and technical institutes.

The adult literacy rate in Puerto Rico is approximately 94 percent, which is much higher than that of the other island nations that make up the Greater Antilles chain.

Map of Puerto Rico

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