SAN JUAN – Puerto Rico’s Universidad del Sagrado Corazon/University of the Sacred Heart each year attracts dozens of Hispanics from the mainland United States who want to improve their bilingualism.

University president Jose Jaime Rivera told Efe on Monday that in recent years the number of U.S. Latinos who study at his institution, from which more than 5,000 students graduate each year and where classes are given in English and in Spanish, has increased.

“At the University of the Sacred Heart we promote multiculturalism,” Rivera said.

He went on to note that the university also receives students through different exchange programs from Latin American countries such as Colombia, Chile and Brazil.

Rivera emphasized that the aim of the center is to provide its students with comprehensive humanistic classes, as well as to seek academic excellence, at the level that top U.S. universities offer.

“We’re trying to give our students a business vision and push them to take risks,” Rivera said.

He emphasized that the school is trying to attract students from all over the world, and he added that the institution offers “hybrid” educational alternatives where a student need not necessarily attend classes full-time.

Regarding the backgrounds of the students that study at the school, he said that about 40 percent come from low-income families. EFE