At Senate seminar: CRUCH calls for progress in the legislative discussion of the FES bill

05/11/2025
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  • At Senate seminar: CRUCH calls for progress in the legislative discussion of the FES bill
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During his speech at the “Higher Education Financing Bill (FES)” Seminar organized by the Senate Education Committee, the alternate executive vice president of CRUCH, Carlos Saavedra, emphasized that “it is not possible for our country to maintain the burden that a CAE implies without modifications.”.

The Council of Rectors and Rectors presented 14 proposals to strengthen the bill, aimed at guaranteeing university autonomy, institutional sustainability and the comprehensive development of the higher education system in Chile.

“As the Executive Committee of CRUCH, in a meeting held this week, we have indicated the importance of moving forward with the legislative discussion of the project,” stated Carlos Saavedra, the alternate executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities and rector of the University of Concepción, during the “Higher Education Financing Bill (FES)” seminar held this morning in the Senate Education Committee.

He added that “we understand that cross-party agreements are needed to move forward. Here (at the seminar) a variety of arguments have been presented that warrant attention regarding the bill, whether it is this bill or the form it takes after legislative discussion,” but “after listening to all the arguments, I would like to reinforce the idea that it is not possible for our country to maintain the burden of a student loan system without modifications,” Saavedra emphasized.

On the other hand, the vice president pointed out that within the CRUCH there is consensus on three guiding principles upon which a legitimate financing system should be structured. First, autonomy, “to guarantee the academic, administrative, and financial independence of universities, so that they can define their projects and manage their resources”; second, the project must guarantee sustainability, “in terms of supporting all university functions—teaching, research, advanced training, and community engagement—ensuring institutional viability over time”; and third, it must contribute to the development of the higher education system.

The seminar also featured presentations by the rectors of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Nelson Vásquez; the University of the Andes, José Antonio Guzmán; the Federico Santa María Technical University and president of the G9 University Network, Juan Yuz; and the University of Valparaíso and president of the Consortium of State Universities of Chile (CUECH), Osvaldo Corrales.

In addition, other actors from the Chilean higher education system and international researchers participated, such as Santiago Montiel, from think tank Horizontal; María Paz Arzola, from the Liberty and Development Institute; Carlos Williamson, from CLAPES UC; Matías Acevedo, former Director of Budgets; Sergio Bitar, former Minister of Education; Santiago González, rector of the Central University and president of the Corporation of Private Universities; Julio Castro, rector of the Andrés Bello University; Lorraine Dearden, researcher at the Institute of Education of University College London; and Bruce Chapman, Australian economist and academic known for being the founder of the HECS system (Higher Education Contribution Plan loan system).

CRUCH proposals

To improve the bill, the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities) prepared a technical document entitled “Proposals for Improvements to the New Public Financing Instrument for Higher Education (FES),” which it sent to the Minister of Education in mid-October. The document outlines the Council's analysis of the need to move beyond the State-Guaranteed Student Loan (CAE) model due to its structural deficiencies, and details the following 14 proposals:

  1. Strengthen the principle of university autonomy.
  2. Staggered co-payment, allowing proportional contributions from the highest income deciles, as a measure that contributes to its sustainability and reduces exclusive dependence on state resources.
  3. Allow universities to determine the maximum number of FES recipients.
  4. Secure and extend funding beyond the nominal duration of the programs.
  5. Maintain a basic scheme of state student benefits for universities that do not adhere to FES or for students who do not have access to this benefit.
  6. Regulate the limit of future contributions, establishing that it is less than or equal to 1.5 times the resources received, avoiding excessive charges for future beneficiaries.
  7. To provide stability and predictability in tariff regulation.
  8. Establish deadlines that ensure the timeliness of state transfers, avoiding liquidity risks for institutions.
  9. Extending the FES collection system to loans granted by universities, allowing for improved recovery of these funds and reducing asymmetries with the state instrument.
  10. Strengthen core funding instruments, complementing teaching funding and recognizing the greater academic, research and territorial complexity of some universities.
  11. Consider a scheme for the periodic evaluation and adjustment of the FES, allowing for a reduction in the current and future uncertainty of the instrument.
  12. Guarantee the protection of personal rights and privacy.
  13. To make the use of surplus funds from the University Credit Solidarity Fund (FSCU) more flexible.
  14. Simplify management and accountability requirements by updating the content and interpretation of legal and regulatory norms on state financial administration.

Text: CRUCH Communications / Photo: Courtesy of G9 Network Communications

Rectors from CRUCH universities at the seminar “Draft Law on Financing Higher Education (FES)”