Higher Education entrance in Chile. A fairer new system with more opportunities and more equity

Abstract

Among considerations and changes that have been proposed in the Higher Education Act (Ley de Educación Superior 21.091) of Chile, which was promulgated in May 2018, the modification of the access’ system to Higher Education is suggested. This initiative will be implemented by the Subsecretary of Higher Education that, in coordination with other organisms and technical committees that belong to Chilean Ministry of Education and University of Chile, are gradually working on the whole process. Therefore, an intermediate period starts with new requirements that are summarised in the Transition Test (Prueba de Transición), followed by the new Test of Access to Higher Education (Prueba de Acceso a la Educación Superior). Its aim consists on applying a different method for university entrance with the purpose of not just evaluating the content knowledge, but also skills acquisition. Due to the offer of more opportunities for all university candidates, it is intended achieving higher levels of equity in this process that considers population’s diversity, trying to become a fairer model. With all of this, a more inclusive system of access to Higher Education is aimed..