Free-Tuition Policy, Support Programs, and Academic Performance: Lessons for Increased Equity in Chilean Higher Education

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

The three presentations will provide a comprehensive perspective on the challenges that institutions face in order to ensure the successful academic experience of low-income and first-generation students. The first article presents a model of the choice institutions face when implementing the free-tuition policy: either to allocate resources for free-tuition enrollment of low-income students or to allocate resources to ensure students´ graduation. Presentation two systematizes the academic support programs that Chilean higher education institutions have put in place recently. Finally, presentation three will report results on the academic performance of first-generation students around the world and institutional initiative implemented to better serve them. Parallels and differences between Chile and other countries will be drawn in all presentations.

Sub Unit

• World Education Research Association

Chair

• Maria Veronica Santelices, Catholic University of Chile

Papers

• Modeling the Allocation of Free-Tuition Slots at Chilean Institutions: Access Versus Graduation - Pamela Guzmán, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; Maria Veronica Santelices, Catholic University of Chile

• Mapping the New Undergraduate Student Support in Chile - José Miguel Salazar, Universidad de Valparaíso - Chile; Gonzalo Zapata, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; Natalia Rojas, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

• The Academic Performance of First-Generation Students in Higher Education: A Systematic Review - Maria Lopez, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; Maria Veronica Santelices, Catholic University of Chile

Discussant

• Carlos Gonzalez, Universidad Catolica de Chile