Abstract:

Although Mexico has made progress in educational coverage at all educational levels, in recent years the number of young people and adults who do not have a high school diploma is very large.

Starting in 2000, the Mexican Ministry of Public Education (SEP by its acronym in Spanish) can grant the high school diploma through a national exam and it was required, then, to be 21 years old to present it. In April 2017 the age requirement to take this exam was removed, so now anyone 15 years of age or older, can take it.

This article presents the results of the effect of public policy change in students who are preparing in non-contact modalities in Mexico for this exam.

Through an analytical and statistical methodology, with more than 3,823 surveys applied during 2017 throughout the country, a student profile was established for before and after the changes in the requirements. Significant differences were identified with various variables, such as age, sex, occupation, marital status, number of children, parents’ education and motivations.The results show the changes in the average age of the students, the marital status, the use of social networks and the education of the parents. The women who prepare under this modality, on average, have parents with a higher education than the parents of men. Finally, this article presents a correlation with the results of the national examination to identify the changes that this public policy generated.

Keywords:

Online education, online learning, high school accreditation, open education, online students’ characteristics.