Equal Access to University Education in Chile? An Application Using Spatial Heckman Probit Models

Juan Luis Quiroz,Ludo Peeters,Patricio Aroca,Coro Chasco

doi:10.3390/math10020280

Juan Luis Quiroz, Ludo Peeters + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/math10020280

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Abstract

This study contributes to the debate on accessibility of higher education in Chile, with a special focus on the geospatial dimension of access to university studies. This paper addresses the central question of whether geography (physical distance and neighborhood effects) plays a significant role in determining the accessibility of higher education to students in Chile. We use Heckman probit-type (Heckit) models to adjust for selection during application for higher education—that is, pre-selection among applications to study at university and, ultimately, admission (or denial) to a higher educational institution. Of all high school graduates who took the university selection test (PSU), only 37.9% were able to attend higher education. The results show that the geospatial elements—neighborhood characteristics and distance from the city of Santiago—have a significant local effect on the student’s application and access to Chilean universities. Specifically, the most significant local range for each candidate is 300 neighbors. We also find that, when distance to the capital city increases, the probability of applying to university increases to a threshold of 1400 km, at which point probability begins to decrease.

Highlights

Access to university education is a real concern for policymakers all over the world
Given that our main goal was to examine access to higher education in Chile and potential disparities in the process of university enrollment across different groups of high school graduates, we focused on a set of core variables representing basic student characteristics as well as geographical distance from students to universities
The results indicate a problem of gender inequality

Summary

Introduction

Access to university education is a real concern for policymakers all over the world This is true in the case of Chile, where the government has invested intense efforts into providing equal access for students from families of different socioeconomic levels. It is important to understand how personal characteristics, reflected in socioeconomic and geographic items, influence students’ enrollment in university education to generate empirical evidence that contributes to the design of public policies in the area of university education. To our knowledge, this conclusion has never been tested with real microdata in Chile. The database we use contains information on students’ high school grades, selection test scores, applications to the university, as well as personal and family characteristics

Results

Discussion

Conclusion