Identifying students with extraordinary potential is vital to the success of EARTH’s unique educational model.

University faculty embark on a rigorous recruitment process to identify young men and women who demonstrate academic capacity, leadership potential, ethical values, commitment to their communities and respect for the environment.

The components of the recruitment process include:

• Promotion – Faculty members visit public and private high schools in Latin American countries to raise awareness of EARTH’s mission and distribute application materials.
  
  
• Pre-selection – Based on the written application, high school grades and letters of recommendation, EARTH’s Office of Admissions initially selects approximately 1,200 candidates for further review.
  
  
• Selection – Faculty members visit and personally interview approximately 800 of those candidates each year. An admissions test is also administered by the faculty during the interview.
  
  
• Admissions –After a full examination of all candidates, EARTH ultimately admits approximately 110 of the most qualified individuals, without regard for their financial ability.

“I’m really interested in rural development because my country is mainly poor. We need to take rural people out of extreme poverty. They need to have other choices in life, so I am learning to be an agent of change.”
— Claudina Padilla, Guatemala, Class of 2011