Gordon Guyer, who was president of MSU in 1992 and 1993, helped select 8,000 acres in the midst of the rainforest that became EARTH University. Since EARTH University opened in 1989, the two universities have exchanged students and faculty.

Frank Fear, the senior associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the universities are talking about collaborating on graduate education. MSU could offer a graduate program at the facilities in Costa Rica, or the two universities could run one jointly. He said the primary benefit from the partnership for EARTH University has been sending their students to MSU for graduate school.

“The primary benefit for us has been a venue for our students to study abroad,” he said. “The question is can we do more than that.”

Zaglul said MSU students can come to Costa Rica to study, research or intern. The almost 400 students at EARTH University spend at least one day per week in the rainforest communities surrounding the university.

“We try to make them understand the challenges that the families have,” he said.

He said the EARTH campus also has undergone reforestation, and captures 15,000 more tons of carbon dioxide than it releases. The campus also has reduced its methane emissions by installing biodigesters, which collect methane from campus waste and turn it into power for the cafeteria.

“We want (students) to be sensitive to whatever we do, the (social and environmental) impact,” he said.

International relations junior Olivia Courant said she came to hear Zaglul because she wants to intern in Costa Rica next summer.

“I’m interested in sustainable development and agriculture,” she said.

Zaglul said EARTH University was designed to be different from other colleges. It prioritizes low-income youth from rural areas, and admissions are not based on test scores.

“We try to see his passion or her passion,” he said. “We are choosing people. We are not choosing the exams.”

Oscar Arreola, a native of Guatemala, graduated from EARTH University and is now an MSU graduate student studying community, agriculture, recreation and resource studies. He said EARTH University works to break down class distinctions, which he said are important in Latin America.

“The disparity of roommates is on purpose,” he said.

Zaglul said EARTH University tries to teach students entrepreneurship. He said the pesticide-coated stalks left over from banana production used to wash away into rivers, but the university figured out a way to turn them into paper.

“If we want to teach the students to be entrepreneurs, we have to be entrepreneurs,” he said. “Everything we do is on banana paper.”

Guyer said a group of alumni he led on a trip to Costa Rica two years ago said EARTH University was the best part of the trip.

“And that’s in competition with volcanoes and sandy beaches and bikinis,” he said.