Even though conflict has always been a part of history, peace and conflict studies aim to reduce conflict in the future by studying ways to avoid it. This is done by studying causes of violent conflict, then explaining to others how conflict begins and how to manage or avoid it.

Costa Rica offers a sponsored and at the same time students-friendly higher learning curriculums. The country has 20 public and 44 private universities with the leading three public universities being University of Costa Rica, The national university and Costa Rican Institute of Technology.

A pathway program is a one-year introduction to a full degree curriculum and prepares international students for their entry into university. These programs train students in a wide variety of subjects such as Arts, Humanities, Business, Biological and Life Sciences, Engineering, Technology, or Natural Sciences.