The Professional Master's Degree in Recreation provides the required training to satisfy the demand for recreational programs that exist in today's society, thereby allowing the population to use their free time to their advantage and, as a result, improve their quality of life.

Overall Characteristics

1. Start of Master's Degree. The Master's Degree in Recreation is offered in one generation of students at a time. When one generation ends, the next begins. The seventh generation will begin in March 2025.

2. Required academic degree. The person interested in entering the Master's program must have at least a bachelor's degree.

3. Required number of students per graduating class. The Postgraduate Studies System (SEP, an acronym in Spanish), is the university's office in charge of postgraduate programs and requires that at least 15 students register and enroll in the courses. The maximum number of students accepted for the Master's program is 18. The 18 students with the best grades will be admitted.

4. Duration of the master’s. The plan consists of 60 credits and 13 courses in four semesters (four courses in the first three semesters and one course in the last semester). See the study plan in the attached file.

5. Courses. The masters will be bimodal. Some courses will be completely in-person, some others completely virtual, and others bimodal.

6. Schedule. In this seventh generation, the courses will be from Monday to Thursday from 5 to 9 P.M. Some courses will have field trips and on-site practices on Saturdays and will be notified at the beginning of the semester.

7. Time devoted to the Master's Degree. The minimum recommended amount of time is half-time, although more should be considered. If the lessons are face-to-face, the time that must be dedicated to the Master's Degree is spent traveling, attending lessons, consulting the library (physical and online), and doing written or practical work individually or in groups, among other academic tasks required in the postgraduate program. When the lessons are virtual, the time dedication is almost the same, except for the time saved in traveling to classes.

8. Research. This Master's Degree has no defined areas of research. Each student establishes their area, according to their interests and the respective professor's guidance. It is important to have strong reading skills in Spanish and English; reading comprehension in Spanish and English; and writing, punctuation, and spelling skills in Spanish. Therefore, these skills should be reinforced before entering the Master's program.

9. Time allowed to graduate. Starting with the seventh class shall apply Article 12 of the Regulations of the Postgraduate Program in Human Movement and Recreation Sciences which states: "The maximum time allowed for graduation from enrollment in each of the study plans shall be: ... Professional Master's Degree in Recreation: 4 years."

To be admitted to the Professional Master's Degree in Recreation, the following requirements must be met:

1. Requirements from the Postgraduate Studies System (SEP, acronym in Spanish):

1a. Have, at least, a higher education bachelor’s degree.</tab>

1b. Provide the requested documentation within the stipulated time limits: copy of the diploma/degree of at least a university bachelor's degree in any area of knowledge; original transcripts of the grades of the courses of the major whose diploma is being submitted (this document must not be more than three months old as of the date of submission); and letters of recommendation.

1c. Have proficiency in a foreign language.

2. Specific admission requirements for the Master's Degree:

a. Submit a placement test of:

a.1. Topics related to recreation. This will be done based on the readings in English and Spanish that will be provided in advance.

a.2. English proficiency (reading comprehension). This will be done by using the content questions of a short reading in English that will be provided on the day of the test. English reading comprehension is important in this master's degree because many of the used books and journals are in English.

b. Take part in an interview.

c. Have, at least, 30 hours per week to fulfill the academic work of this postgraduate program, which consists of attending classes in person or virtually, reading, studying, consulting in the library, meeting in groups, doing internships, and writing papers and assignments, among other activities.

d. Availability on weekends, weekday afternoons, and evenings, since (1) the schedule of some activities of several courses of this master's degree could be on weekends, (2) the field trips of some courses will be on weekends or holidays, and (3) the schedules of most courses will be in the afternoon-evening hours during the week.

e. Have technological equipment and internet connectivity that allow access and participation without difficulties in synchronous virtual classes.

f. Participate in the induction that will be offered as an orientation before the beginning of the first semester of the master’s degree.

3. Other requirements: consult the Master's Program (recreacion@sep.ucr.ac.cr) and the SEP (https://www.sep.ucr.ac.cr/sep-admision-matricula/sep-requisitos-admision).

4. The international student population must meet other requirements. For these requirements, please visit the SEP website (search for International Students): https://www.sep.ucr.ac.cr/sep-admision-matricula/sep-preguntas-frecuentes.

Registration process

1. Submission of the registration application and mandated documents from the System SISEP (diplomas, official transcripts [courses passed, failed, and credited], confirmation of graduation letter, identification card [both sides], and three recommendation letters) (More details in Guía de admisión a Posgrado attached document or on the link: https://www.sep.ucr.ac.cr/admision/guia-proceso-admision.pdf).

2. Submission of entrance exam.

3. Take part in an interview.

4. Official communication to the participant about the resolution of the selection process and admission into the Program. (This communication is provided after the Commission of the Postgraduate Program in Human Movement and Recreation Sciences conducts a detailed study of the documentation of the admission file, the entrance test, and the interview of each student. It then notifies the SEP of the applicants who have met the requirements of the Master's Degree and are eligible to enter the program. The person at the SEP Dean's Office will send a letter to each student with the acceptance of entrance to the Master's program).

5. Enrollment process.

6. Registration process.

Cost of tuition for Professional Master’s Degree in Recreation

Cost of tuition. The initial tuition investment for the seventh generation (2025-2027) of the Professional Master's Degree in Recreation is 50,000 thousand colones per credit during 2024. The cost of the credit increases each academic year according to the inflation index of the previous year, stipulated by the Government of the Republic. Therefore, this amount will be higher for the years 2025 and 2026. The Master's Degree consists of 60 credits.

1. Tuition waiver (scholarship). Once accepted into the program (letter from the SEP) the students may apply for a scholarship to the Commission of the Postgraduate Program in Human Movement and Recreation Sciences. The percentage of scholarship granted will depend on the number of applications, the financial resources available to the Master's program, and the academic and socioeconomic status of the applicant. The greater the number of students enrolled, the higher the percentage of the scholarship.

2. To apply for a tuition waiver (scholarship), the form is to be obtained from the SEP website and submitted along with the documents listed, on the dates stipulated for this application (https://www.sep.ucr.ac.cr/sep-vida-estudiantil/sep-becas-ucr).

Important Activities for admission to the seventh generation 2025-2027.

• Lecture about the Master’s degree and the admission process

1. Virtual meeting: Thursday 23 May 2024, 5 p.m. No password is needed. Link: https://udecr.zoom.us/j/81943523385

2. Virtual Meeting: Thursday, July 4, 2024, 5 p.m. No password is needed. Link: https://udecr.zoom.us/j/84517065888

• Request for entrance test materials (recreacion@sep.ucr.ac.cr): before March 14, 2024

• Submission of the admission application and the three recommendation letters in the SISEP system: before September 6, 2024 (incomplete documents will result in the application not being processed). See Guide to Postgraduate Admission at https://www.sep.ucr.ac.cr/admision/guia-proceso-admision.pdf

• Written test: Thursday, September 5, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., Costa Rica local time. (Virtuality to be determined)

• Interview: Thursday, September 12, and Friday, September 13, 2024, from 1 to 4:30 p.m., Costa Rica local time. Day and time to be determined on the day of the test. (Virtuality to be determined)

For further information:

Professional Master's Degree in Recreation

• Address: School of Physical Education and Sports, sports facilities of Universidad de Costa Rica, road to Sabanilla, Montes de Oca. Email: recreacion@sep.ucr.ac.cr

• Ms. Yuliana Montero, Postgraduate secretary, Professional Master's Degree in Recreation, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11 a.m. to 12 m.d. on-site and from 1 to 3:00 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday from 12 m.d. to 3 p.m. Virtual Phone: (506) 2511-2949. Email: ericka.montero@ucr.ac.cr

• Cecilia Enith Romero Barquero, Ph.D., Master’s degree coordinator. Email: cecilia.romero@ucr.ac.cr

• Postgraduate Studies System Office

• Location: From SEP building, next to Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, university campus Rodrigo Facio, San José. Apdo. 2060 San Pedro, Costa Rica.

• Phones: (506) 2511-1400, (506) 2511-1356.

• Webpage: www.sep.ucr.ac.cr Email: posgrado@ucr.ac.cr