The rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica (UC), Juan Carlos de la Llera, on Wednesday asked the Cuarta Subcomisión Mixta de Presupuestos (the Fourth Joint Budget Subcommittee) not to approve the higher education section of the Ley de Presupuestos (Chile's annual Budget Law) 2027 as submitted, according to Emol. De la Llera also chairs the G9, the network of non-state public universities.
The academic questioned the funding reductions and said "it is hard to understand what public policy objective it pursues". His request was specific: keep contributions to universities and science funding adjusted for inflation.
According to figures from the Dirección de Presupuestos (Dipres, the Finance Ministry's budget office) cited by Emol, higher education funding totals $3,580,469 million. Within that total, the bill includes a real cut of 12.41% to the Fondo Basal por Desempeño (Performance-Based Core Fund) for universities and of 25.2% to resources for promoting research.
The rector focused above all on the latter. "The G9 universities alone generate 45% of Chile's scientific output," he said. He warned that, in a country that invests in innovation and development far below the average of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the adjustment "significantly compromises our development prospects".
"We cannot sacrifice capabilities that have taken decades to build for a short-term adjustment whose costs will be paid over several generations," he told the lawmakers reviewing the bill in the Senado (Chile's upper house of Congress).
In his presentation, De la Llera noted that UC, the Universidad de Concepción, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV) and the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María rank 1, 11, 22 and 49 in the QS Latin America ranking. "No reasonable public policy punishes performance," he insisted.
He also criticized the cut to the Aporte Fiscal Directo (Direct Fiscal Contribution), a fund that has not changed substantially in years. "A core contribution exists precisely to provide stability, and it loses all meaning if it becomes a fiscal adjustment variable from one year to the next," he said.
On free tuition, the rector explained that regulated fees, that is, the amounts the State sets for each degree program, do not cover their real cost. At UC alone, that difference creates an annual gap of nearly $20,000 million. "Universities are already subsidizing an underfunded public policy," he said.
He added the restriction on using surpluses from the Fondo Solidario de Crédito Universitario (University Solidarity Loan Fund), while institutions cannot set fees or freely grow enrollment. "The contribution is reduced and at the same time every avenue for adjustment is closed," he warned.
The rector also cited the 6.4% drop in the Ministerio de Ciencia (Science Ministry) budget compared with the comparable 2026 baseline. In his view, this means a "double blow" for universities, whose capacity to train people and generate knowledge would be affected.
The Emol report does not include a response from the Government or the Ministerio de Hacienda (Finance Ministry) to the rector's arguments.
"We are not asking for an increase," De la Llera clarified. "We are only asking that the State preserve the value of its commitment to universities." The subcommittee must now vote on the section, which will then continue its passage through Congress.
