The Quest for Equity in Chile’s Higher Education : Decades of Continued Efforts

This book studies three factors affecting equity in higher education outcomes for the Chilean case: the decision-making of students transitioning to higher education, the admission process, and the role of financial aid. It assesses how effective the combination of policies implemented has been at increasing access and leveling academic outcomes.

In Chile during the last forty years, there have been important initiatives aimed at increasing equity in higher education, including the private provision of tertiary education starting in 1980, the growing support provided by the state to low-income students through financial aid, the increasing importance of institutional financial aid, a university admissions system that has made efforts to reduce the important weight standardized test scores have traditionally had in admissions decisions and institutional-level programs implemented to broadened the admission of low income students to selective institutions. This book seeks to describe the concurrent efforts undertaken both at the national and at the institutional level to increase equity in access to higher education and educational outcomes in Chile during the last four decades. Taking stock of the accomplishments of Chile´s higher education system is especially important at a time when social demands and political decisions seem to deeply question the road traveled.