Analysis and implementation of free education at the University of Atacama

Abstract

Based on the Chilean reality about the Free Education Policy (2016), the article presents a study that addresses the reception sustained by higher education institutions regarding the mechanisms of application and control of the policy; taking as a sample the group of students at the University of Atacama with the benefit in the year 2018. The quantitative data analysis is carried out considering the faculties and careers, the route of entry of the students, type of establishment of origin, and academic's entry factors. It is concluded that without evaluation and monitoring mechanisms this benefit could become an item of the higher education budget without fruitful results for the country. Regarding the result, it is established that in the sample analyzed, students who enter by regular route or University Selection Test (PSU), the score range obtained in High School Grades (NEM), is lower than the PSU and Ranking scores, so it does not influence significantly as an academic income factor, this means that for a student with the benefit prevails the PSU score.