Jason Koski/University Photography

Costa Rican Vice President Ana Chacon, far right, said that her country’s reason for signing a memorandum of understanding with the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs is to improve lives. Also participating ins the signing from left: Costa Rican Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications Marcelo Jenkins, CIPA Executive Director Thomas O’Toole and Alvaro Salas-Castro, MPA '14, standing.

When Alvaro Salas-Castro ‘14, a Costa Rican student, was accepted into Cornell University’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) program in 2012, he applied for scholarships, organized benefit concerts, made appointments with potential donors and took to crowdfunding platform Rally.org to raise more than $100,000 to support his education.

Now a Ph.D. student at Syracuse University, Salas-Castro has seen one of his biggest dreams come true: ensuring that Costa Rican students with hopes of making a positive change in their country will have an easier time attaining a Cornell education.

Led by Costa Rica’s second vice president, Ana Chacón, officials signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA) leaders June 17 establishing a new scholarship program. The MOU, signed by Cornell and the Costa Rican Ministry of Science, Technology, and Telecommunications (MICITT), represented by minister Marcelo Jenkins, seeks to attract graduate students focused on science, technology and infrastructure policy into the CIPA MPA program in the College of Human Ecology.

At the MOU signing Thomas O’Toole, CIPA executive director, thanked Salas-Castro for “building bridges between Costa Rica and multiple units at Cornell. Indeed, none of us would be here today without Alvaro’s initiative,” he said. “… this agreement will make it easier for a new generation of Costa Rican professionals to apply the strengths of Cornell toward fulfilling the objectives of Costa Rica’s national development strategy.”

Under the agreement, Costa Rican applicants will apply to Cornell under the regular admissions process, seeking scholarship eligibility based on their academic and professional interests. The agreement also creates opportunities for internships and project collaborations between Cornell students and MICITT.

“In many respects, Costa Rica is a regional exemplar of smart growth and democratic governance,” said O’Toole. “It has enjoyed the region’s longest period of unbroken democracy and, through a strategy of export-led growth, has attracted one of the highest levels of foreign direct investment in Central and Latin America.”

Chacón characterized the MOU as an “historic alliance” that will benefit many Costa Ricans: “Education has been the key to our development and a partnership with one of the leading academic institutions in the world will enhance that development route.”

Sharon Tennyson, CIPA director is eager to welcome the first Costa Rican cohort to Cornell. “By enhancing the opportunities for Costa Rica’s best and brightest to study public administration and public policy through CIPA’s MPA program, this MOU will provide educational benefits to those citizens, and will also enrich the MPA experience for all of our students and our faculty.”

Lisa Jervey Lennox is assistant director for external relations at CIPA.