¿Son los créditos estudiantiles una política eficiente? Expectativas y limitaciones del caso chileno

Student loans are considered a key tool in financing higher education today, as they enable the sector’s expansion without a substantial increase in public spending. However, their effectiveness has been the subject of debate both internationally and nationally. Since 1981, Chile has implemented five student loan programs, making it a relevant case for analyzing the efficiency of loans as a public policy for higher education funding. The article analyzes the expectations and limitations of the efficiency of the Solidarity Fund for University Credit, CORFO loans and the State-Guaranteed Loan. Efficiency is defined as the capacity of loans to fulfill their public policy objectives regarding coverage, investment in human capital and diversification of the labor market. The research analyzes the impact of investment in public spending on four trends: a) variations in higher education enrollment, b) impact of graduates on the salary premium, c) the participation of graduates in the occupational structure, and d) country’s productivity indicators. The results show that, although student loans have contributed to the massification of access, no substantial changes are observed in the complexity of the labor market. The study concludes by discussing the factors and consequences that the existence of unfulfilled objectives might have on the sustainability of the loan system in Chile.