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The closure of the University of the Republic is imminent. The Superintendency of Higher Education (SES) -through a resolution to which the BioBioChile Reporting Unit had exclusive access- placed the tombstone at the university and determined this Monday to request the Ministry of Education to revoke its official recognition.
The determination comes after an exhaustive analysis on the part of the supervisory entity, whose results are illuminating and confirm a crisis at all levels: financial, patrimonial and administrative.
Debts for billions of pesos, the auction of its headquarters set for when the State of Exception ceases, lawsuits, complaints from its own campus and the lack of responses, are part of the findings that motivated the SES to seal the fate of the Republic.
Now, it only remains for the Ministry of Education to accept the request of the supervisory body to start the process of final closure.
Years in sight
La República University had been in the sights of the supervisory body for more than a year. This led to a formal investigation process being instructed at the end of 2019, just a few months after the SES began operating.
The findings led to an administrative sanctioning procedure, in which the respective charges were formulated (see resolution). The Republic responded, but everything ended in sanction, as they were ordered to prepare and present a recovery plan to correct financial problems and difficulties, in order to protect their university community. Workers and students.
Simply put, the regulatory authority granted him the option of autonomously presenting a set of measures that would allow for concrete solutions to his economic crisis.
Thus, on Monday March 22, the Universidad La República presented its proposal, however, the measures undertaken by the institution were far from correcting its problems.
“Reject the recovery plan,” says the resolution signed this Monday by the superintendent of Higher Education, Jorge Avilés Barros.
“Propose to the Ministry of Education to initiate the procedure of revocation of official recognition and cancellation of legal personality to La República University ”, adds the 15-page brief.
Read the resolution
The numbers
Throughout the investigations, the SES compiled a series of antecedents that account for the crisis that the educational institution is going through.
First, it proved that the Universidad La República has a situation of financial deficit that does not allow you to have sufficient resources to cover your costs and operational expenses in a timely manner.
Secondly, there is the sustained decrease in student enrollment since 2018, which translates into a reduction in their main source of income, a circumstance that increases their financial deficit. In effect, enrollment went from 5,227 students in 2018 to 4,026 in 2019, and 3,299 in 2020. Regarding first-year enrollment, it went from 1,888 in 2018 to 1,109 in 2019, and 1,083 in 2020.
Third, a recurring breach of its pension obligations was discovered, a situation that has been going on for several years. According to the record, as of November 2020 the house of studies had a total of 4,105 current pension debts with its workers, for an amount greater than $ 285 million and in 11 pension institutions.
Likewise, the existence of current fines imposed by the Labor Directorate to the University for an amount greater than $ 102 million was verified. And not only that, as of October 2020, the institution was sued, for unpaid pension obligations, for more than $ 5 billion.
Fourth, it was found that the university maintains a current debt for taxes or tax credits in the amount of $ 1,725 million, a sum that corresponds to the net debt, readjustments, interest and penalties. The taxes owed by the institution correspond to the Value Added Tax, Income Tax, Second Category Tax, fines from the Labor Directorate and fines issued by the Internal Revenue Service.
More and more problems
In addition to the multimillion-dollar debts, there are numerous ongoing legal processes in which the Universidad La República has the status of defendant. The list is made up of civil and labor lawsuits, labor collection, AFC collection, AFP Provida and Habitat collection, isapres collection and Los Héroes Compensation Fund collection and ACHS collection, all currently in force, in which the La República University for more than $ 9,300 million.
As if that were not enough, there is also the next auction of his property located in Agustinas street 1831, in the commune of Santiago. That is to say, its central house.
The 22nd Civil Court of Santiago, by resolution dated November 11, 2020, ordered that the date and time be set for the auction of the premises, once the State of Constitutional Exception ceases.
This building is not the only one with problems. Non-compliances were also detected in the payment of the lease contracts of the buildings in which its headquarters operate. As of November 20, 2020, it owes at least more than 17 thousand UF for rental income, an amount that as of that date was equivalent to $ 509 million.
The latter is relevant, since the rental situation implies a real risk of ceasing to provide educational services to its students, a fact further aggravated because the institution, without any justification, did not follow the background information that was required by the SES in order to know the situation of each of the 16 properties in which its different locations operate.
Complaints and administrative disorder
According to the SES research, the house of studies shows a severe administrative disorder, which does not correspond to the minimum standards for the operation of a university.
This stems from various claims and complaints submitted to the superintendency since June 2019 by students, graduates, teachers and officials.
Namely: financial, labor and pension irregularities; deficiency in the quality of the educational service; problems of the curricular record with loss or unavailability of the students’ academic information; significant delays in the delivery of certificates and titles; non-compliance with internal regulations; a deficient infrastructure; and poor maintenance conditions at some venues.
Added to this is the recurrent delay in the payment of the salaries of the workers and teachers of the institution, disorder in the accounting and treasury areas, and the loss of approximately $ 350 million between 2015 and 2019, without any control mechanism having operated during that period.
And even worse, in the opinion of the SES, the house of studies was unable to provide various basic information that was required during the investigation, including minutes of ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Board of Directors; vouchers for Provisional Monthly Payments; antecedents relative to the buildings in which the different headquarters of the institution operate; copy of proof of payment of social security, health and AFC contributions, etc.
Now, it only remains for the Ministry of Education to revoke the official recognition with which La República operates, to make way for a closure administration that ensures students the completion of their studies. Unlike what happened in Arcis and Universidad del Mar, where the crisis erupted after complaints from its own community, this is the first house of studies that must cease its functions by action of the supervisory body since its creation in 2019.
BioBioChile tried to contact the university, but until press time it was not possible. Its website, meanwhile, appears under “scheduled maintenance.”
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