Drawing and Illustration Schools and Programs in Costa Rica

Drawing and Illustration Studies in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has no separate university degree called Drawing or Illustration in our directory. Drawing is studied as part of a broader visual arts degree, and illustration skills are built through the drawing courses and the emphasis a student chooses, such as printmaking, painting or graphic design. Teaching is in Spanish.

Our directory lists 1 university in Costa Rica for this subject: the Universidad Nacional (UNA), a public university in Heredia.

How the degree is organised

The Universidad Nacional was created by law on 15 February 1973 and is one of the five public universities that form the Consejo Nacional de Rectores (CONARE). Its arts centre, the Centro de Investigación, Docencia y Extensión Artística (CIDEA), has four schools: Art and Visual Communication, Performing Arts, Dance and Music.

The Escuela de Arte y Comunicación Visual (EACV) teaches the Bachillerato en Arte y Comunicación Visual, a bachelor's degree with seven emphases:

• Painting (pastel, watercolour, tempera, acrylic and oil)
• Printmaking (woodcut, etching and aquatint, drypoint)
• Graphic design
• Environmental design
• Sculpture
• Textiles
• Ceramics

Drawing is one of the study areas of the degree, together with visual communication, art history and the technique of the chosen emphasis. All students start with a common first level. To apply for an emphasis for 2027, students need to have passed Dibujo 1 and Dibujo 2 (Drawing 1 and 2), two art history courses and an integrating module on design and research methodology. Places are then assigned by grade average, and the school states that the graphic design and environmental design emphases cannot take more than 20 students each because of the equipment in the workshops.

The school also teaches a Bachillerato en Enseñanza del Arte y Comunicación Visual, for future art teachers, with the same emphases. That degree is taught jointly with the university's División de Educología, which is in charge of the teaching component. The school also has a licenciatura study plan, which ends with a final graduation project, and a technical programme in design and management of digital visual content.

Admission

Admission to the Universidad Nacional is through the Prueba de Aptitud Académica (PAA), the academic aptitude test, in a process with several stages run by the Departamento de Registro. For arts degrees there is an extra step: the university publishes a separate admission booklet for specific aptitude tests (Pruebas de Aptitud Específicas), and CIDEA lists the admission tests of each of its schools, including the Escuela de Arte y Comunicación Visual. The entry profile of the degree asks for an interest in the arts, manual aptitude for art, discipline, creativity and a taste for research.

The registration calendar and the admission booklets for 2026-2027 are on the site of the Departamento de Registro. Applicants with a foreign school-leaving certificate should ask the admissions section which recognition it requires.

Recognition and residence

SINAES is the body authorised by the Costa Rican state to accredit institutions, degrees and programmes; accreditation is voluntary. People who hold a university degree from outside Costa Rica and want to work in their profession in the country apply for recognition through CONARE's Oficina de Reconocimiento y Equiparación, which works with the state universities.

Residence permits for foreign students are handled by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME). The university's admissions section is the first point of contact for the documents it issues.

Careers

According to the school, graduates in Art and Visual Communication work as visual artists, independent professionals, instructors in art techniques, designers of graphic identity, editorial designers, members of art and design departments in institutions and companies, and art producers or managers. Workplaces named by the school include galleries, art workshops, private art schools and museums. Illustration work is usually freelance or part of editorial and graphic design.

Frequently asked questions

Can I study a degree in Illustration in Costa Rica?

The university in our directory does not offer a degree with that name. The Universidad Nacional teaches a Bachillerato en Arte y Comunicación Visual in which drawing is a core study area and students choose an emphasis such as painting, printmaking or graphic design.

Is there an entrance test for art at the Universidad Nacional?

Yes. Besides the general Prueba de Aptitud Académica, the university publishes an admission booklet for specific aptitude tests, and CIDEA lists the admission tests of its four schools.

When do students choose their emphasis?

After the first level. For 2027, the online form for choosing an emphasis is open from 2 November to 27 November 2026, and students must have passed Drawing 1 and 2 and the other first-level courses.