Ues: the plan of the rectors to face the “ghost” of student delinquency

At the Catholic University they take it for granted that student debt will grow. The rector Ignacio Sánchez He says that “the pandemic will bring with it a significant increase in student delinquencies. However, the real impact is not yet known because at the moment we only have the delinquency information for the month of March ”.

According to that information, the delinquency rate of the university increased by 22% last month compared to the same period of previous years. In addition, 6% of the students asked to postpone the payment of the first installments of the year, due to the impact of the coronavirus.

UC has 39,000 students and in 2018 had income of $ 505 billion. Of that amount, 28% is explained by tariffs, since it has other means of financing, such as basal contributions and the provision of services, according to information from the Mineduc. “It is very likely that these percentages will increase in the coming months for our university,” says the rector.

Since the crisis began, the institution has offered some aid to students, such as the postponement of the expiration of the tariff quotas and those who need it, can request a support to cover the amount of the tariff in March and April, accessing renegotiation or suspension of collections. In addition, although it has not incurred room maintenance costs, it did have to purchase 4 thousand licenses for online classes, and disburse resources to train teachers and deliver internet scholarships. In this institution, 70% of the costs are from remuneration.

More than 39 thousand students, the University of Chile is one of the largest schools in the country, and its students have also been impacted by the health crisis. The rector Ennio Vivaldi explains that “we implemented the option of postpone the start of the payment of tariffs until June for those students without free or without Bicentennial Scholarship. Thanks to this measure, so far there has been no increase in delinquencies ”.

He assures that “equally, we know that there are many families in our community who have seen or will be affected by their economic situation as a result of this pandemic. So, We have requested the Ministry of Education to open a new registration period in the Single Form for Socioeconomic Accreditation (Fuas). The idea is to allow young people to apply again for benefits that they may not have qualified for before the epidemic, when there was still no economic crisis and their families had jobs.

“This is essential so that no one is left without studying for the Covid-19 and ensures the continuity of their career,” adds Vivaldi.

In 2018, according to Mineduc data, the U. de Chile had revenues of $ 485 billion, of which the 30% correspond to resources from fees or student benefits.

Vivaldi is president of the Consortium of State Universities (Cuech), an organization that submitted proposals to the authorities to help students, such as easing the demands for long-term debt of schools, easing the use of resources associated with regional and strengthening projects, and the revision of the regulations for the use of surpluses from the Solidarity Fund.

“The situation the country is going through has demanded, and will undoubtedly demand, from the university and from all its members, special efforts,” argue the Diego Portales University, in a public statement that reportsl special socio-economic benefits program that was promoted on campus.

This venue, which has an enrollment of 18,900 students, ordered extraordinary measures to alleviate the current crisis. Between these, flexibility and scholarships to pay the fees for the next three months, agreements they have already signed 424 students, While 83 others are waiting for their application to be reviewed at the Student Affairs Directorate.

For these effects, the socioeconomic situation of the applicants was taken into account through supporting documentation. “The university trusts that these programs can contribute to the UDP maintaining, to the maximum extent possible, its work with the active participation of all,” reported the university, which in 2018, according to the Higher Education Information Service (Sies), it had revenues of $ 70.3 billion, of which the 89% came from the item of the fees and their student benefits ”.

The flexibility of payments, details the UDP, adds to the acquisition and distribution of more than 1,000 internet connections and almost 600 computers, a program that has already completed its first phase.

Carlos Saavedra, rector of the University of Concepción, expresses that in this campus will be aimed at specific situations. “An important part of the students receives financing from the State, either free of charge or with credits and scholarships; That makes up about 81% of the mesh of our students. In the rest, it was reported that those who suffer a change in their economic situation should contact us to see what to do in that case and generate specific responses to needs. “

The rector emphasizes that “we are not talking about general measures, but to attend to the particular needs of students in the face of their socioeconomic problems. Also, we are delivering 3 thousand connectivity scholarships and now we will make more computers available ”.

This university has a student universe made up of 27,600 students.

A little further south, Aliro Borquez, rector of the Catholic University of Temuco, points out that “we informed the students that they could postpone their fees, that of March for the end of April, and that of April for the end of May. We have not received a March tariff because it was postponed. “

He adds that “our idea is that in everything that has to do with payment or co-payment of students, facilities are provided, even for students who have delinquencies pending last year, so that they can pay it in installments, without fines or interests”.

The Catholic University of Temuco has a campus made up of 11,700 students, according to the Sies.

At the Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD), its rector, Federico Valdés, reported that this week “$ 1,525 million in scholarships were assigned to students who are experiencing financial complications” because of the coronavirus. This will allow 1,733 scholarships, to benefit the 12% of students. Valdés says that, to deliver these resources, they reduced the university budget as much as they could and that the amount will benefit the students whose families have affected their sources of income. This money is in addition to the $ 12 billion annually available for internal scholarships for academic merit.

“There are families facing very severe financial problems and that will have difficulty paying normally. For this reason, we opened a series of processes aimed at those who had a problem, in order to advance in important solutions, “explains Valdés.

According to official information from the Mineduc, this campus It has 17 thousand students and in 2018 it registered $ 97 billion of income, 89% of them via fees.

In the Andrés Bello University (Unab), meanwhile, the vice-rector for University Services and Student Affairs, Alejandro Zambrano, maintains that this house of studies “has determined that late payment interest or collection costs will not be considered, and it has been flexibility in repayment of quotas ”. The Unab has 48 thousand students on its campuses and in 2018 it reached $ 198 billion of income according to the Mineduc (Yes it is). Of that amount, 95% was generated with tariffs. Zambrano adds that “likewise, resources for the scholarship fund were increased, in order to provide additional aid to students who have been most affected by the health crisis ”.

For Eduardo Silva, rector of the Alberto Hurtado University (UAH), the financial issue, regarding tariffs, has special aspects: “Our situation in terms of tariffs depends significantly on state contributions, since more than 50% of the students of the university receive gratuitousness. And the other 25% receive CAE and copays, ”he says.

This campus has 8 thousand students and in 2018, according to the Higher Education Information Service (Sies), had income of $ 29 billionof which the 79% came from benefits or tariffs.

Silva adds that “the percentage of students who pay a fee month by month is lower, and those who do They have been offered a table, where they present their case and payment can be delayed, without interest, under a model that is working quite well. ”

The academic states that “we are also giving connectivity to students, tablet for those without digital equipment and food benefits, so for now we have not had problems, which does not mean that in the future there will not be. But we do not have defaulters, because as a new payment is agreed, that is not late payment, but a delay. “