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Before the Education Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, the alternate executive vice president of CRUCH, Rector Marcela Momberg, presented results of the impact of the Program for Access to Higher Education (PACE).
The CRUCH requested to maintain the program's funding in the 2027 Budget and to move towards its establishment by law.
“It has already been proven that this program for access to higher education has been effective in numbers, but also from a qualitative point of view, in how it has changed the lives of our own students and our own country,” said Marcela Momberg, alternate executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) and rector of the Catholic University of Temuco (UCT), before the Education Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.
On behalf of CRUCH, the rector presented on Tuesday, September 22, the results of the Program for Access to Higher Education (PACE), which demonstrate its contribution to the access, retention, and graduation of students from vulnerable backgrounds, as well as to the reduction of gaps in higher education.
In the lead-up to the discussion of the 2027 Budget Bill, the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities) requested that the program and its funding be maintained, ensuring the continuity of its components of preparation in secondary education and support in higher education. It also proposed moving towards its establishment by law, with the aim of providing it with greater stability and long-term vision.
Twelve years after its launch and with ten access cohorts, the Council maintained that the consolidation of PACE would allow for further expansion of opportunities for students from different regions of the country and contribute to ensuring that the possibilities of continuing higher education are not determined by the establishment of origin or by socioeconomic conditions.
The request comes in a context where the program is among those likely to be considered for budget discontinuation, based on an evaluation by the Ministry of Social Development and Family, while the Ministry of Education works on the necessary adjustments to remedy this situation.
A policy that supports educational pathways
From its inception, PACE was conceived to restore the right to higher education for students who, despite demonstrating talent and outstanding academic performance, remained excluded from the university system.
Many schools with a high School Vulnerability Index (IVE) lacked representation in universities, not because of a lack of ability among their students, but because the selection system evaluated young people who had faced profoundly unequal educational opportunities using the same criteria.
In response to this reality, PACE articulates two complementary dimensions: on the one hand, it develops preparatory actions during secondary education to strengthen educational trajectories and promote the transition to higher education; and, on the other hand, it provides academic and socio-educational support to those entering institutions, aimed at promoting their retention, progression and timely graduation.
Currently, the program is present in 638 educational establishments across all regions of the country—561 urban and 77 rural—with an average School Vulnerability Index of 89.8%. During 2025, it supported approximately 122,000 third- and fourth-year high school students.
Since the first cohort in 2016, more than 31,000 eligible students have enrolled in partner institutions and received support during their first or second year of higher education. The program is implemented by 29 institutions, 28 of which belong to the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities).
Data from the Information and Access Division of the Undersecretariat of Higher Education shows that 81.11% of students enrolled in the PACE program immediately gain access to higher education, compared to the national average of 47.41%. In the longer term, the cohort that entered in 2016 achieved a graduation rate of 52.41% by the eighth year of follow-up.
Another significant finding is the gender gap favoring women, a trend that persists across all cohorts analyzed. Among those who entered in 2016, 58.31% of women obtained their degree, compared to 42.71% of men.
In addition, there are the results of a monitoring study conducted by CRUCH during the first half of 2026, using information provided by 21 participating institutions. The data show that, during 2025, the average first-year retention rate among PACE students reached 84.1%, practically equivalent to the 84.5% recorded for the general population. For annual course completion rates, the figures were 81.1% and 83.2%, respectively.
The significance of these results also lies in the entry requirements. Students admitted through the PACE program come from schools with an average School Vulnerability Index close to 90% and have substantially lower admission scores. Despite these initial differences, during their first year they achieve retention and passing rates very close to those of the student body as a whole.
Talent and opportunities in all territories
The Ministry of Education selects the secondary schools that participate in PACE and defines the training process aimed at their students, focused on the development of skills, vocational exploration and the strengthening of academic and socio-educational competencies to facilitate their transition to higher education or the world of work.
Its implementation is carried out in close collaboration with educational communities and involves families, teachers, school administrators, and other education professionals. This work also allows universities to connect with the communities where the program is implemented and to recognize the diverse realities that influence the educational paths of young people.
During her presentation, Momberg placed special emphasis on the opportunities that the program creates for those who have historically faced greater barriers to access and on the change it produces in the expectations of school communities.
The support provided from secondary education, he explained, has an impact on the possibilities of continuing studies, because "it changes the expectations of students in high schools affiliated with PACE, because it gives a different perspective on what higher education means.".
The alternate executive vice president highlighted this dimension especially in the regions, where, she noted, “generally, the students we receive become the first generations of future professionals in their families. Therefore, this also generates social mobility.”.
Along those lines, he emphasized the need to recognize the different realities that exist throughout the country. “Educating in the regions is different from when you think about it at a central level, in Santiago,” he stated, highlighting the importance of creating opportunities for talented students to access quality higher education in their own communities.
Rector Marcela Momberg's presentation continued the one made in July before the Senate Education Committee by the rector of the University of O'Higgins, Fernanda Kri, representing CRUCH. See related news article
See news from the Catholic University of Temuco
Text and photograph: CRUCH Communications
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