Start your BMCC Journey in Costa Rica
College First Year Abroad – Fall 2026
Begin your college experience with Borough of Manhattan Community College in one of the most unique classrooms in the world—the cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica.
Through this exclusive partnership with CIEE, select BMCC students can spend their first semester abroad earning U.S. college credit while gaining hands-on experience in sustainability, science, and global living. To learn more about CIEE’s program in Costa Rica, visit our website.
Program Details:
September 28 – December 19, 2026
NEW! $8,080 program fee (includes tuition, housing, meals, cultural activities, CIEE iNext travel protection, and more. See full breakdown.)
Now featuring special pricing for fall 2026 to celebrate 80 years of CIEE's commitment to building bridges of peace and cultural awareness across nations.
To Learn More:
- Watch the Start Your BMCC Journey Abroad Information Session recording.
- Schedule a call with the CIEE Advising team to learn more and have your questions answered. (Scroll to select a member of your geographic CIEE Advising team.)
Application Support
- If you have applied for a CIEE program before, log into your my.ciee.org account.
- If you have never applied for a CIEE program before, press “sign up” under the “I am a new user” section.
- You will be prompted to create your my.ciee.org account on the next page. Please enter your name, email address, cell phone number, and create a password.
- Select a School: search for your current high school and press enter. Please do not enter Borough of Manhattan Community College as the college you plan on attending next year.
- If you have a common high school name (such as Central High School), you may need to review the options with a focus on the city name.
- Try searching using one of the keywords in your school’s name.
- If your school is not listed: Select “My High School is not listed” from the drop-down option. Be sure to enter the full name of your high school.
Select a Program and Term: A pop-out screen will appear with the below questions. Double-check that the information displayed matches what you see on your screen:
Type of Program: College First Year Abroad
Enter your High School: Your high school that you currently attend or attended should be displayed
High School Graduation Year: Enter your high school graduation year
Where Do You Want to Go: Monteverde, Costa Rica
First Year Abroad and Fall 2026 should be pre-selected
Eligibility: You will see the eligibility page for College First Year Abroad in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Read through the requirements and select yes to verify you meet the eligibility requirements. If you have any questions about the eligibility requirements, please contact us at hsabroad@ciee.org.
- Applicants must be 18 years or older at the time of program departure, with the exception of Monteverde, Costa Rica and Kyoto, Japan, where students must be 17 or older at the time of program departure.
- Applicants must be a recent high school graduate – no more than 18 months post-high-school graduation with a 2.7 minimum high school GPA
- Applicants must be in their first year of college, having completed no more than one semester of college post-high-school graduation
- Press continue to access the College First Year Abroad in Costa Rica, Monteverde application.
- You will now see a To Do List in your my.ciee.org account with tasks that need to be completed by June 1st to be considered for College First Year Abroad in Monteverde, Costa Rica.
- You can log in and out of your my.ciee.org account and work on your application at your own pace. Please remember to save your work as you go.
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Costa Rica is Calling
Nature fans will love the rainforest-covered mountains blanketed in lush, green trees. Share your home with native wildlife like the colorful toucan or the red-eyed tree frog.
Make Lifelong Friends
Connect with fellow BMCC students and CIEE participants from across the country. Forge meaningful friendships that will last a lifetime as you explore Costa Rica together.
Questions? We've got answers.
Contact the CIEE team to learn more about admission, cost, safety, and more