About Student Life

Average expenses

• Your daily expenses (meals and transportation) will be around RD$700.00 (eating out, we recommend to buy groceries and eat at home)
• Taxi rides are around RD$ 250.00
• Public cars and buses are a more affordable option, less comfortable (NOT RECOMMENDED)
• Average monthly bills: electricity US$ 50; telephone (w/internet) US$35; cell phone US$50; groceries the average is around US$150 a month (one person)

General recommendations

• Start looking for a place to live at least two weeks before school starts (The Student Affairs Dept. has a Housing List (also available on our website). Don’t rush into moving!
• Find out if there is a Dominican Consulate in your area. You will need to obtain the Student Visa. You may obtain that prior to arriving in the country or once you get here.
• In order to get the Visa, you are going to have to bring in a Police Report and a Health Certificate from your country, you will need two sets (originals): one for school and one for the Visa.
• If you wish to transfer credits from another institution, we advise you to bring a School Catalog or some validation of the courses you’ve taken.
• Keep in mind that you will need cash in order to pay deposits for apartments (at least 2 or 3 months’ worth of rent) therefore you might want to have your money in money orders; this is an easier and less expensive way. We recommend you bring cash, money orders or debit cards, this will make payments easier.

Security

The University provides security services within the campus through the Security Department. This area, along with other institutional units, is responsible of carrying out all security policies, including the following services:

• Protective watch on school facilities 24/7.
• Supervision and control of campus access.
• Encouragement of students, employees and other university community members to be responsible for their security.
• Orientation on security measures, prevention of crimes and other emergencies in coordination with the

Security measures

• As a security measure to prevent crime, 46 security cameras have been installed with an ongoing monitoring center that keeps a 30-day information record and backups.
• Permanent maintenance and patrolling of the buildings and other areas to eliminate crime activity risks.
• Access control to the campus during and after working hours.

Drug and alcohol policy

UNIBE promotes prevention of addictions in the members of its academic community through different programs and educational activities regarding the hazards related to drug, narcotics and alcohol abuse.

Consumption, possession, distribution or sale of narcotics, drugs and/or alcohol on campus is a violation of UNIBE’s Disciplinary Regulations and country laws. These actions are prohibited under Article 15 sections “a” and “b” of the Rules and Regulations handbook that every student receives after registering at UNIBE

Communication

There are three mayor communication service providers in the Dominican Republic. They offer different options (internet, land lines, cellphones):

Claro (www.claro.com.do)

Altice (altice.com.do)

Viva (www.viva.com.do)

About our Country

Capital: Santo Domingo

Climate: Maritime semitropical, with an average yearly temperature of 80 F. Humid.

Currency: Dominican Peso

Ethnic groups: Caucasian – 16% African origin – 11% Mixed – 73%

Government: Representative Democracy

Independence: February 27, 1844 (from Haiti)

Language: Spanish

Phone code: International access code-809 / 829 / 849

Population:10.766.998 (as of 2017)

Official religion: Roman Catholic (95%) Other – Protestant, Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist, and Mormon

More information: www.godominicanrepublic.com

Holidays

Since 1997 the Dominican Government established by law that all non-religious holidays to be celebrated on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and/or Fridays be moved to the following or previous Monday.