You might not hear unbridled praise for Ecuadorian universities. “Ecuador probably has the worst universities in South America” are the words of President Correa, whose attitude to the country’s higher education system is one of anger directed at many private institutions which have failed their students.
Thankfully, this isn’t the whole story. Things have improved somewhat and nine Ecuadorian universities now make the QS rankings (top 300) for Latin America. The Universidad de San Francisco de Quito was given five stars for teaching excellence and its ability to appeal to international students. The government is continuing to implement reforms in higher education, including stringent requirements for professors and is shutting down so called ‘garage universities’ whose poor facilities and performance have given Ecuador's education system a bad name in recent years.
Studying abroad in Ecuador is a realistic possibility. The Universidad de San Francisco de Quito runs an exchange programme , so speak to your university if you’re interested in studying there. Bear in mind that the language of instruction will be Spanish so you’ll need a good level of speaking and writing.