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(Entry by Andrés Bernasconi)

PROPHE Summary:
The Chilean Congress has recently passed an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act which, among other changes, extends the protection of this law to the contractual relationship between students of higher education and their institutions, public and private. Under the new provisions, all higher education institutions will fall under the "truth in advertising" rules generally applicable to commerce. As a result, the conditions offered to the public by the educational providers shall be considered a binding part of the educational contract between a student and the higher education institution where she has enrolled. Aditionally, the new Act gives freshmen students the right to withdraw from an institution in which they have enrolled, if after enrollment they decide to study in a different institution. The withdrawal would carry no financial penalty if submitted within 10 days of the student's admission to the second institution. The amendments, applicable to universities and non-university postsecondary institutions, public and private, were resisted by the higher education lobby, but passed nonetheless as part of a Congressional effort to strengthen consumer rights across all economic activities, including education, health care, and housing.

For the full story see www.universia.cl/index.htm, July 2004.

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