What is commonly called “Institution Univers” includes all the academic education programs for pre-kindergarten (students admitted at age 3) up through grade 13. The school is on the French system, so there are 13 grades before graduation. The formal local names for these two sections of academic education are:

• Univers des Petits (pre-school and kindergarten)
• Collège Univers (grades 1 through 13 academic education)

Institution Univers was started 14 years ago by the current Director Hugues Bastien, a native of Haiti and several other local Haitian leaders who served as a local “Board of Directors.” The school has prospered in enrollment numbers, programs, academic performance, physical facilities, U.S.-based financial support and support from international aid organizations. Institution Univers will have 1700 students from pre-K through grade 13 when the 2008-09 school year starts.

Since 1994, Institution Univers has grown from a one-room schoolhouse for preschoolers to a campus of two large buildings serving 1700 students and employing over 100 local professionals and support personnel. Like most other schools in Ouanaminthe, students arrive in neatly pressed school uniforms, on foot, bicycle or motorcycle.

Once Univers students enter the school, the similarities to other area schools diminish. In Institution Univers, classroom sizes range from 25 to 40 students, while at other local schools it is not uncommon for one teacher to serve 75 to 90 students. On mandatory government exams, most schools are glad to have 30-40 % of their students pass. All students in Haiti need to pass official government exams at the end of their 6th grade, 9th grade, 12th grade and 13th grade. If students do not pass these exams they are not allowed to continue to the next grade. Or in the case of the final exam after the 13th year, a student can’t receive their high school diploma if they fail the exam. Univers students have always performed well above the national average on these exams. In the six years that Univers has fielded classes of 6^th graders to take the official exam, only one student has not passed. The three years of 9^th graders have also done very well on their exams.

Institution Univers is a Christian school that teaches Bible in addition to the courses mandated by the Haitian government educational guidelines. Since Haitian Creole and French are the national languages of Haiti, these are the languages in which subjects are taught. English language is also taught at multiple grade levels. Haitian teaching methods usually reflect the French preference for memorization to prove mastery of a subject. The smaller class size at Univers allows its teachers to venture toward discussion and more student-directed participation, as visiting U.S. educators have recommended. The chief strategy and plan of Institution Univers is to raise a new generation of Christian leaders in business, government and education who can build a new community in and around Ouanaminthe, Haiti.

C.O.C.I.N.A. needs to send about $500,000 per year to Institution Univers to fund the operation and maintenance of the school that is not paid for by the students’ tuition. Student tuition ranges from $66 to $145 (U.S.) per year depending on grade level. Total tuition collected falls short of paying just the teacher’s salaries. Students’ tuition only pays less than 25% of the total annual operating, maintenance and construction costs for Institution Univers; the rest has to come from COCINA and a few other organizations such as Plan Haiti which funded the construction of the new kindergarten building.