Every day in the country, private higher education institutions (IES) face tensions that threaten their ability to adequately fulfill their educational projects in a harmonious environment, due to the difficult environment that public policies, the market, the sector and public opinion they are imposing on you.

The country cannot play along with the media, columnists or the political and economic elite who mistakenly believe that to speak of higher education is to refer to the role of a few prestigious, traditional and resourceful universities ( that, it must be recognized, they have earned and work permanently to maintain their status, good name and reputation) and that judge, without foundation, the rest of HEIs in a dangerous and unfair stigmatization around dangerous concepts such as profit and low quality.

If it is a question of enumerating said institutions «privileged» by public opinion, the figure would barely be between 40 and 50, out of a total of 298 (84 public and 214 private) recognized by the Ministry of National Education. All offer duly registered academic programs because they met the same parameters and quality requirements defined in the Law. It is worth noting that approximately 47% of the student population enrolled in the system is attended by private IES, and that more than 70 % of these students belong to socioeconomic strata 1, 2 and 3.

Total enrollment in the system (public and private, from all strata) is around 2.3 million students. The IES with tradition and results of accreditation and national and international visibility, and that proudly represent us, do not exceed 20%. This means that there are more than a million students enrolled in the remaining 80% of HEIs, the same ones that are rarely mentioned and whose names are often forgotten, although most of them are on their way to accreditation. And that this account is not including about 1.5 million potential students who have not managed to enter higher education.

The covid 19 pandemic allowed, fortunately for low-income young people who were enrolled in public IES, to develop the current National Government’s free educational policy (Decree 1667 of 2021), which will benefit most, although not all, students from 63 official IES

But, what about the rest of the students, that 47% of the enrollment in the country, who are enrolled in private IES? They are also Colombians who, sometimes even more than their peers in public HEIs, must make great efforts and personal, labor and economic sacrifices to pay for and advance their studies in HEIs that cannot give them free of charge, simply because their source of income is the tuition they charge, given that the National Government does not support them.

The complex financial situation of private IES, aggravated by the pandemic, is characterized by the fact that many of their students, with justified reasons, think of leaving them to try to achieve free admission in public ones; because there is a limitation of economic resources to study after the weakening of the economy; and because there are legal restrictions so that private IES can increase their tuition fees above the CPI, which in practice reached 50% of the increase in the minimum wage, among other aspects.

The figures are categorical. There may be about 180 private higher education institutions that have seen their operating conditions deteriorate. The situation is so complex that there are already worrying symptoms of small IES that are living their last days and that, after two years of the pandemic, this 2022 could be the year of their disappearance.

According to official records, from the Ministry of Education, of the 298 there are 161 IES (14 Universities, 94 University Institutions, 34 Technological Institutions and 19 Professional Techniques) between public and private that report in 2020 less than five thousand students. I mean, they are the majority. On the other hand, there are a few private universities and university institutions that, due to the number of students, income through enrollment, agreements, contracts with the State, and solid assets, may be handling these challenging moments without difficulty, the tensions and pressures do not escape them either.

The landscape is complex. Those of us who are committed to quality celebrate the efforts of the Ministry of Education and the key players in the higher education system to raise quality standards and the procedures and instruments for measuring it, but we cannot be oblivious to the impacts that policies have caused in IES: Increase in investments in infrastructure, well-being and teacher training and recognition for accreditation purposes; increase in the hiring of professionals for processes of self-assessment, measurements, registration, research, visibility, social networks, virtuality and permanent document updating, among others, all of which translates into significant increases in economic investments , while the number of students and enrollments seem to freeze.

And all in a scenario of sectoral disarticulation, despite the fact that generically there is talk of a «system» of higher education. In practice, there is not a single space, dialogue exercise or technical table that brings together all the rectors and institutions of higher education in the country. While in the classroom our teachers talk about integration, teamwork and synergy, in practice, the Government never articulates with all the IES, beyond emails or generic invitations, the rectors meet in small groups and the associations of HEIs , like ASCUN, SUE, ACIET, and REdTTU, we serve specific interests, but not of the entire sector.

I must admit, in my capacity as rector of a private university institution and national president of ACIET, that our purpose has not been completely fulfilled, and that we cannot give up in the effort to integrate the entire sector, despite its diversity, because brings together IES with many resources with others that are barely surviving; to public with private; IES from large cities with those from the region; and accredited with those who work for it, among many other classifications.

As long as we do not act as a single educational body at the service of the country, policies, the market, public opinion and the individual interests of IES will continue to affect the real impact of higher education, as a whole, its ability to reach more Colombians. , to help design the future of Colombia and to defend the interests of our graduates, among others.

Even with the financing of the state educational free policy, the operational and quality conditions of public IES continue to demand enormous government efforts. His situation should also concern us all.

Higher education is a purpose, it is a public service provided by public and private IES, and a national heritage. If it were not for the contributions of public IES and the commitment of private IES, the State would not be able to ensure the higher education coverage that Colombia has today.

The reduction in operating conditions and, even worse, the undeserved closure of private IES that, I repeat, provide educational services on behalf of the State, constitute the failure and resignation of the «national higher education system», in the face of the inability to work jointly and in solidarity. They not only constitute frustrated educational projects, but also the denial of opportunities to thousands of young people who come to these HEIs with the hope of having quality services, guaranteed by the State.

We must act, as IES and as rectors, above our own policies, ministerial decisions and market pressures!

Sincerely,

By Hugo Alberto Valencia Porras
National President of ACIET
Rector of the María Cano University Foundation