The Council of Rectors expresses its concern regarding the modification to the formula for calculating the Reference Fee.

The Council of Rectors, in response to the Ministry of Education's decision to modify the formula for calculating the Reference Fee, declares the following:

1. In light of this concerning announcement, we, as rectors of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), wish to point out that we were neither involved in nor informed of this change until now, when the decision had already been made and the universities' budgets submitted. We believe that this lack of dialogue undermines the climate of cooperation that should exist between authorities and stakeholders in higher education, a climate to which we have always been committed, especially regarding a decision that could seriously impact the future choices of our students.

2. The new calculation, by including market factors such as employability and salary levels to obtain the reference value of a career, leaves out disciplines with low rates in this area, but which are very relevant to the development of the country, such as Pedagogy, Social Sciences or the Arts.

3. We believe that this change stems from the belief that the market will dictate how young people decide what and where to study. This is a biased view of higher education and the reasons behind such an important vocational choice for our students. For us, the universities of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) are not mere factories of professionals, but centers that educate well-rounded individuals whose duty it is to contribute to the society in which they live.

4. Establishing that the value of a degree depends not only on its quality but also on how much a graduate will earn contributes to increased segregation. Salary and employability are often determined by students' social capital and family networks, and these differences are even more pronounced between Santiago and the regions. Given this unequal playing field, this factor would exacerbate the disparity, providing larger amounts of student aid to young people who choose degrees considered more lucrative and to those who study at universities in the capital.

5. The rectors of the 25 universities represented on this Council categorically oppose the foundations and the effects that this new calculation formula will have on our universities and our students. We also point out that these new factors are being added to a formula that, since its creation in 2006, has never been fully implemented.