The current debate on public education policy in Chile is centered around the concept of education as a social right. This shift in focus has resulted in an increasing rejection of the market-based model that was imposed during the military dictatorship (1973-1990).
President Michelle Bachelet’s government program (2014-2018) prioritized free and inclusive education, the elimination of profit-seeking in educational institutions, and the strengthening of state-provided education at its core.
For many, including politicians, academics, and students, the goal was to restore the concept of the ‘Teaching State,’ which had inspired educational policies in the Republic before the military coup. In recent years, considerable attention has been given to the issues of Chilean higher education from a market perspective, highlighting the influence of neoliberal ideology on educational segregation and the interference of economic interests seeking to profit from the governance and management of higher education institutions.
However, a comprehensive institutional history of Chilean higher education, depicting the evolution and continuity of the system’s regulations and state policies, considering both the public and private sectors across various constitutional cycles up to the present day, remains unwritten. This thesis aims to fill that gap and provide an institutional perspective on the history of Chilean higher education.
