美国可以从智利的免费大学学到什么

美国可以从智利的免费大学学到什么

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

皮拉尔·维加·马丁内斯在公立高中所受的教育实在是太糟糕了，她不得不多花了一年的时间来学习智利版的SAT——普鲁巴大学。

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.

她的努力得到了回报。她的考试成绩足以让她进入智利顶尖的大学。维加现在是第三年，学习成为一名护士。多亏了政府政策的重大变化，她不用再付学费让生活变得轻松了。

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.

这是因为智利通过一项名为“gratuidad”的政策，实现了大学免学费。此前数年，智利公众愤怒抗议学费和学生贷款债务不断上涨，最富裕和最贫困学生就读的学校在质量上存在巨大差距。

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.

这是“免费大学”的一个版本，与许多美国人所谈论的内容一致，包括几位民主党总统候选人。

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.

智利的教育体系与美国有很多相似之处:私立大学与公立大学并驾齐备;大学学费高;而且，在“gratuidad”政策实施之前，学生贷款负债累累。

How it came to be

这是怎么发生的

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.

推动智利这场运动的力量是该国社会深层的社会经济分化，这是1973年至1990年统治该国的智利威权政府的残余。

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，不满和愤怒演变成罢工和抗议。示威者游行反对高昂的大学费用和学生贷款带来的大量个人债务。

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

当时的失望情绪与最近几周引发政治抗议的情况类似。

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.

就像在美国。在美国，这一运动超越了对支付大学学费的财务担忧，转向了一个更广泛的哲学原则:高等教育是一种权利。

It's expensive

它很昂贵

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.

当“gratuidad”政策最终在智利开始实施时,议员们很快意识到，这个雄心勃勃的计划（对每个人都免学费）的成本很高,即使这个国家的人口只有美国人口的5%。很显然，这个项目必须缩小和延迟,加上复杂的限制。

Is it working

有效果吗

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.

尽管在智利进行了投资，但改革在实现其主要目标方面进展缓慢:为收入最低的学生扩大接受高等教育的机会。这是因为近90%的低收入学生在“gratuidad”政策实施前就已经获得了经济资助。

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.

但是从另一个角度来看，免学费的前景确实激励了那些以前可能没有考虑过的学生进入大学。最近的一份报告发现，参加该项目的智利学生中有15%本来是不会去上大学的。政府发现，获得免费教育的智利人辍学的可能性也比没有获得免费教育的智利人略低。