Abstract:

In 2019, the constitutional reform and the new General Education Law came into force, which established the compulsory aspect and gratuitous nature of all educational services under the responsibility of the Mexican State, including higher education. This measure was not without controversy derived from the skepticism generated by its economic infeasibility in a country historically characterized by its low tax collection, high unemployment and professional underemployment derived from the low linkage of university institutions with the productive sector, gaps in educational quality and in a context where thirteen public state universities are financially bankrupt with millionaire liabilities, a debate that has resurfaced once again due to the global and national economic crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. For this reason, this paper aims to give a panoramic evaluation of the implementation, operating procedures and the first results of such public policies, with the final objective of presenting some prospective glimpses.

Keywords:

México, public higher education, compulsory, gratuity, public policies.