The Quest for Equity in Chile’s Higher Education

By María Verónica Santelices; Catherine Horn and Ximena Catalán - Contributions by Macarena Alarcon; Diana Kruger; Alejandra Venegas; Carlos Williamson and Magdalena Zarhi

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.

AcknowledgmentsPrologueList of Relevant TermsSection I. Framing the IssueChapter 1: Introduction, Maria Veronica Santelices, Catherine Horn, and Ximena CatalánChapter 2: Chile's Higher Education System: Structure and Policies Behind Increased Enrollment, María Veronica Santelices, Ximena Catalán and Catherine HornChapter 3: United States Postsecondary Education as a Point of Comparison, Catherine Horn, Maria Veronica Santelices, and Ximena CatalánSection II. Higher Education Decision-Making ProcessChapter 4: The Role of Information in Students' Transition to Higher Education, Maria Veronica Santelices, Ximena Catalán, Magdalena Zarhi, and Catherine HornChapter 5: Tuition Fees and Student Financial Aid and Higher Education Enrollment: the Case of Chile, Carlos Williamson, Macarena Kutscher, Cristina Riquelme and Maria Veronica SantelicesSection III. University AdmissionsChapter 6: University Admission Criteria in Chile, Maria Veronica Santelices, Ximena Catalán and Catherine HornChapter 7: High School Ranking Policy: Expected and Observed Consequences, Maria Veronica Santelices, Ximena Catalán, Catherine Horn and Alejandra VenegasChapter 8: Equity Admissions Initiatives in Chile: Experiences from Three Selective Universities, Maria Veronica Santelices, Catherine Horn, and Ximena CatalánSection IV. Student Financial Aid and Educational OutcomesChapter 9: Effects of Financial Aid Initiatives at the National level, Maria Veronica Santelices, Catherine Horn, Ximena Catalán and Diana KrugerChapter 10: Effects of Financial Aid at the Institutional level, Catherine Horn, Macarena Alarcón, Maria Veronica Santelices and Ximena CatalánSection V. Conclusions and Lessons LearnedChapter 11: Conclusions and Lessons Learned, Maria Veronica Santelices, Catherine Horn, and Ximena CatalánAbout the contributors