During the last three years there has been a significant decrease in enrollment in the country's universities, especially in private ones; for this reason, the Colombian Association of Universities (Ascún) studies how much the registrations were reduced, the causes and what this real situation should be faced with.

According to preliminary figures released by the Census conducted by DANE in 2018, the population of the age of entering the university is getting smaller; One of the causes is the demographic change, since in 1973 the population between 15 and 19 represented 11.8 percent, while in 2018 it dropped to 8.7 percent. Likewise, the National Information System of Higher Education revealed that in 2018, 2,408,041 students were enrolled, 38,000 less than the previous year.

According to Miguel Hugo Corchuelo, director of the Center for Quality Management and Institutional Accreditation of the University of Cauca, today there are new forms of employment that can be more economically attractive for the population of entry to college and do not demand higher education. For example, in the field of arts or marketing they rely on information and communication technologies, business opportunities are offered that do not require training in higher education for their performance.

"Currently there is a decrease in the enrollment of new students, not because they do not want to enter the university, but because now there are other circumstances that affect the enrollment does not have the pace of growth of other times. Several factors affect; some They are of a general nature for the entire university system: a first element is the labor dynamics that have institutions other than university ones, which offer opportunities for technical or technological training that have high demand, rapid labor insertion, the duration of careers is minor and also contribute to the country's competitiveness,” said the University Director.

There are companies like Google, which are directly training their employees who do not necessarily have to be systems engineers for their production schemes, applications and alternatives; In addition, there are several institutions and companies in the technology sector that generate their own forms of training parallel to those of higher education. In addition, for strata 1,2 and 3, it is difficult to afford higher education studies, due to the increase in educational costs. Additionally, the economic crisis, the decrease in the demographic index and the social conflict have also caused the decrease in academic enrollment, said Professor Miguel Corchuelo.

In the field of public education, alerts are already beginning to be presented, despite all the financing strategies they offer. With National Government programs such as Ser Pilo Paga, scholarships and loans, students find private universities more attractive because they can offer better facilities, greater relationships and more guarantees in the graduation rate. "All circumstances involve alerts to take into account in the programs, of course we have to better manage flexibility according to the expectations that students have, the opportunities of the context and their possibilities of performance," said the director of the Center of Quality Management and Institutional Accreditation of the University of Cauca.

More Info:

Center for Quality Management and Institutional Accreditation

Telephone: 8209800 Ext. 1143 -1313

E-mail address: accreditation@unicauca.edu.co