Costa Rica has a strong commitment to education
Pre-school enrolment has significantly increased but enrolment in secondary school remains low
Educational exclusion and grade repetitions cause discontinuity across levels of education
Close to half of all young Costa Ricans have below upper-secondary education, a low share in international comparison
Secondary school educational attainment is essential to find a job
Costa Rica performs below the OECD average in reading, mathematics and sciences
Most students in Costa Rica perform at the two lowest levels in PISA tests
Learning needs are large
Higher family socioeconomic conditions are associated with a better educational performance
School attendance increases with the level of income
Attending preschool increases reading skills
A tight fiscal space limits spending on education
Spending per student is the highest in tertiary education
Tertiary education attainment has increased, but there is scope for improvement
The number of tertiary degrees awarded has stalled recently
Tertiary graduates have the best employment outcomes
Economic returns to higher education in Costa Rica are among the highest across OECD countries
Socioeconomic disparities translate in the access to tertiary education
Costa Rica has relatively few graduates in STEM
Graduates in education and medicine are employed mostly in the public sector
Labour costs are the largest spending component of public universities
The number of postgraduates in STEM areas is insufficient to promote innovation
Input, output and outcome variables in formula-based funding allocation models
Few students choose vocational education in Costa Rica
VET graduates enjoy favourable earnings conditions
Most of VET graduates have a low level of qualification
Lack of skills leaves many vacancies unfilled
Few VET graduates enrol in programmes to acquire digital skills or speak a foreign language
Formal VET programmes lack working experience
Short-cycle vocational programmes in tertiary education are not widespread