Executive Vice President of CRUCH: "There has been no fulfillment of free transfers in the second semester"

The transfers that the Ministry of Education (Mineduc) has not yet made are those corresponding to the months of July and August. This delay could mean a cost of approximately 144 billion pesos in interest for all the universities belonging to the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) due to having to go to the banks.

The CRUCH plenary session decided that in the coming days a letter will be sent to the Ministry of Education requesting answers regarding this situation.

The delay in tuition-free transfers from the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to the universities of the Council of Rectors (CRUCH) during the second semester was one of the central topics of the rectors' monthly meeting, held in Osorno on Thursday, July 25, at the University of Los Lagos. In this regard, the executive vice president of CRUCH and rector of the University of Valparaíso, Aldo Valle, stated, “We expressed the concern shared by the universities of the Council of Rectors because the tuition-free transfers for the second semester have not been made. There were no transfers in July and August, and we are uncertain whether they will be made starting in September, which is well into the second semester.” Valle specified that the delayed amounts correspond to the tuition fees of all students in the first five income deciles who are beneficiaries of tuition-free education and who study at CRUCH institutions.

Rector Valle explained that, for some universities, the outstanding transfers represent the equivalent of 501% of their operating income from undergraduate programs. “These are very significant sums that exceeded 200 billion pesos in the first semester; consequently, a similar figure was expected for the second semester,” he added.

For his part, Diego Durán, alternate executive vice president of CRUCH and rector of the Catholic University of Maule, explained that “in the first semester, almost 601% of the total number of students receiving free tuition were disbursed, which was very well managed, but in the second semester, the promises made regarding this have not been fulfilled. This could mean a cost to all universities of around 450 million pesos in interest for going to the banks to overcome this difficulty, so it is a real problem we have.” Durán emphasized that this situation is not due to a problem on the part of the universities, since they have done what was required of them.

“The State formally committed to making the payments to the universities as required, and these payments have not been made. Therefore, it is not our problem. Now, what is the State's problem? That is a question for the relevant ministries to answer, as they are the ones who must resolve this situation. We urge them to clarify and organize things, and to provide us with clarity regarding the internal organization of the universities,” Duran stated.

Consequently, the full Council of Rectors decided that in the coming days it will send an official letter to the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) requesting "a clear and formal explanation to address our concerns, as this has a financial cost for universities. All universities must fulfill their obligations and cannot simply postpone payments to suppliers and their monthly salaries and payroll," stated Rector Aldo Valle. Therefore, in the opinion of the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities), the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, specifically the Budget Directorate, must respond as quickly as possible.

Laureate Group and Andrés Bello University

Another topic addressed in the session was the situation of the Andrés Bello University (UNAB), belonging to the Laureate Education Inc. (LEI) group, which participates in the CRUCH Single Admission System.

Given that the Laureate conglomerate recently disclosed its for-profit status in a report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with the aim of listing on the stock exchange, the Council of Rectors must evaluate UNAB's status within the SUA (University System of Autónoma de Básquetbol). Rector Aldo Valle stated that "for us, it is a condition that institutions participating in the SUA comply with the requirement of being non-profit. This is not established by the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities), but rather by Chilean law," said Rector Valle, who also explained that the Council of Rectors, as a public body, cannot be a mere observer or passive observer of any potential non-compliance with this condition established by Chilean law for university institutions.

The executive vice president of the Council announced that, initially, the board of the Unified Admission System and the full assembly of CRUCH rectors agreed to gather the necessary information to assess UNAB's compliance status. "We must gather the information that has been made public by the national press, but we also know that there is information being generated by the Laureate corporation's filing with the United States Stock Exchange," Valle stated.

When asked about Andrés Bello University's continued participation in the Unified Admission System, the head of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) stated, “This has no bearing on the 2017 admissions process, as it is already underway and the university in question is part of the system. Certainly, we don't believe we can form a judgment or a conviction at this point in the year, but we need to gather the necessary information and make a decision for the future,” Rector Aldo Valle emphasized.

Minister of Sport

In another area, it is worth noting that the monthly CRUCH session, organized by the University of Los Lagos, was attended by the Minister of Sport, Natalia Riffo, who invited the rectors to strengthen and reinforce the link with her ministry, understanding that the higher education system is a relevant actor in the national sports system.

“Higher education has a fundamental role in the development of sports policies,” said the Secretary of State. She added that today, “while there is a connection with universities, we want to go further; we want to ensure that higher education, universities, and technical institutes effectively play their rightful role in the development of sports in Chile.”.

Minister Riffo stated that a closer relationship is needed between the knowledge produced by universities, science, and current sports policies. “We want to strengthen this link between my ministry and the universities, and today, what better opportunity than to be meeting with the Council of Rectors to express this desire, which they also express as positive, to continue working together,” the Minister of Sport said.