美國可以從智利的免費大學學到什么

美國可以從智利的免費大學學到什么

So poor was the education she received at her public high school, Pilar Vega Martinez had to take an extra year to study for the Prueba de Selección Universitaria — the Chilean version of the SAT

皮拉爾·維加·馬丁內斯在公立高中所受的教育實在是太糟糕了，她不得不多花了一年的時間來學習智利版的SAT——普魯巴大學。

The work paid off. Her score on the exam was good enough to get her into the top-rated University of Chile. Vega is now in her third year, studying to be a nurse. And thanks to an important change in government policy, life got easier after that: She didn't have to pay.

她的努力得到了回報。她的考試成績足以讓她進入智利頂尖的大學。維加現(xiàn)在是第三年，學習成為一名護士。多虧了政府政策的重大變化，她不用再付學費讓生活變得輕松了。

That's because Chile has made college tuition-free — through a policy called gratuidad— after years of angry public protests about escalating tuition and student loan debt and the gulf in quality between the institutions attended by the wealthiest and the poorest students.

這是因為智利通過一項名為“gratuidad”的政策，實現(xiàn)了大學免學費。此前數(shù)年，智利公眾憤怒抗議學費和學生貸款債務不斷上漲，最富裕和最貧困學生就讀的學校在質量上存在巨大差距。

It's a version of "free college" along the lines of what many in the United States are talking about — including several Democratic candidates for president.

這是“免費大學”的一個版本，與許多美國人所談論的內容一致，包括幾位民主黨總統(tǒng)候選人。

Chile's educational system has significant parallels with that of the U.S.: a robust sector of private colleges alongside public universities; high college tuition; and, before gratuidad, significant student loan debt.

智利的教育體系與美國有很多相似之處:私立大學與公立大學并駕齊備;大學學費高;而且，在“gratuidad”政策實施之前，學生貸款負債累累。

How it came to be

這是怎么發(fā)生的

A driving force behind the move in Chile was deep socioeconomic divisions in society, a remnant of Chile's authoritarian government that ruled the country from 1973 to 1990.

推動智利這場運動的力量是該國社會深層的社會經(jīng)濟分化，這是1973年至1990年統(tǒng)治該國的智利威權政府的殘余。

In 2011, the frustrations and anger boiled over into strikes and protests. Demonstrators marched against high college costs and large amounts of personal debt from student loans.

2011年，不滿和憤怒演變成罷工和抗議。示威者游行反對高昂的大學費用和學生貸款帶來的大量個人債務。

The frustrations then were similar to those that have sparked political protests in recent weeks.

當時的失望情緒與最近幾周引發(fā)政治抗議的情況類似。

As in the U.S., the movement rose above financial concerns about paying for college to a broader, philosophical principle: Higher education is a right.

就像在美國。在美國，這一運動超越了對支付大學學費的財務擔憂，轉向了一個更廣泛的哲學原則:高等教育是一種權利。

It's expensive

它很昂貴

When gratuidad finally began in Chile, lawmakers quickly realized that the ambitious program — free tuition for everyone — costs a lot, even in a country with just over 5% the population of the U.S. It became clear the program had to be scaled down and delayed, with complex restrictions added.

當“gratuidad”政策最終在智利開始實施時,議員們很快意識到，這個雄心勃勃的計劃（對每個人都免學費）的成本很高,即使這個國家的人口只有美國人口的5%。很顯然，這個項目必須縮小和延遲,加上復雜的限制。

Is it working

有效果嗎

Despite the investment in Chile, the reform is making only slow progress toward its primary goal: expanding access to higher education for the lowest-income students. That's because nearly 90% of those low-income students already had financial aid before gratuidad.

盡管在智利進行了投資，但改革在實現(xiàn)其主要目標方面進展緩慢:為收入最低的學生擴大接受高等教育的機會。這是因為近90%的低收入學生在“gratuidad”政策實施前就已經(jīng)獲得了經(jīng)濟資助。

But looked at another way, the prospect of free tuition does inspire students to enroll in college who might not have considered it previously. A recent report found that 15% of Chilean students in the program would have otherwise not sought a college education. And Chileans who get free tuition are also slightly less likely to drop out than their classmates who don't, the government has found.

但是從另一個角度來看，免學費的前景確實激勵了那些以前可能沒有考慮過的學生進入大學。最近的一份報告發(fā)現(xiàn)，參加該項目的智利學生中有15%本來是不會去上大學的。政府發(fā)現(xiàn)，獲得免費教育的智利人輟學的可能性也比沒有獲得免費教育的智利人略低。