After he graduated from high school, he applied for admission to University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras where he continued his education.

He wrote one of his first musical compositions, Himno al Alma Máter, which is the official hymn of said educational institution and in 1938 earned a degree in Spanish and Latin-American literature.

In 1949, in New York City, Arriví was granted a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation and earned his master's degree in Radio and Theater from Columbia University.

[2] In 1951, Arriví had the distinction of writing Ayer y Hoy (Yesterday and Today), the first television program transmitted in Puerto Rico.

His other acclaimed works include: Acto de Fe (Act of Faith), Cantico Para un Recuerdo (Song of Remembrance) and Absurdos Contra la Muerte (Absurdities Against Death).

[2] In 1958, Arriví published his first book of poems titled Isla y Nada (Island and Nothing) which was awarded the first place prize of the Círculo Cultural Yaucano.

[2] Amongst Arriví's published works are the following:[5] In Spanish In English The following are the lyrics to Francisco Arriví's 1938 Himno de la Vida (The Anthem of Life), the anthem of the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras: un himno a la Alma Máter; Cantemos con fuerza el Himno de la Vida que anuncie Juventud, Amor y Libertad, dé gloria al luchador, an anthem to the Alma Mater; let us sing with strength an Anthem of Life which proclaims of Youth, Love, and Liberty, and that gives glory to he who fights, Arriví, who was also the cousin of Dr. Ricardo Alegría known as the "Father of Modern Puerto Rican Archaeology", played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré (Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center) in Puerto Rico.

[1] There is a commemorative plaque in the lobby of Ponce's Teatro La Perla that reads: "Francisco Arriví: Poet, Playwright, Essayist, perennial promoter of Puerto Ricanism and of the eternal values of the universal man."