Chilean Educational Reform (2014-2018) and its Impact on Higher Education System

During the second term of the President Michelle Bachelet (2014-2018), a transversal educational reform was carried out. To tertiary education its main purpose was to provide free tuition for higher education institutions (HEIs): Universities, Technical Training Centers (CFT) and Professional Institutes (IP). In that context, this paper analyzes the impact of this educational reform as it pertains to the Chilean system of higher education, with special focus on the implementation of free tuition as a new way to transfer resources from the State to HEIs.

The methods used is the documental analysis of different legal texts, as Acts and Budget Acts. They are analyzing to identify manifestations of governmental rationality, identifying the language-in-use or its performative dimension.

The analysis considers political variables and how they influenced the process. Its focus is to see legal and institutional changes along with public budget and the impact of HEIs enrolment. The results indicate that despite the significant transformations carried out in the sphere of higher education, the reform could not achieve a significant change in the relationship between the State and HEIs due to the political dispute that arose in the process, thus achieving mixed results.

Chilean higher education provides an interesting case study which can serve as reference for educational debates in other countries.