Striving for the Fourth Transformation: Expanding Access to Quality (?) Higher Education in Mexico
By: Amilcar Guzman
Tags: Education, Higher Education, College Access, Mexico

AMLO gives his first speech as President of Mexico. Image: gob.mx

In December, I joined 13 young professionals from across the United States in participating in the Center for American Progress’ U.S. Mexico Leaders program. We visited Mexico City and Puebla while meeting with elected and government officials and learning about Mexican culture. As a Dominican-American primarily raised in the United States, my knowledge of Mexico prior to the trip primarily included only what I had seen on television, movies and read in books. This was the perfect time to take my first trip to Mexico City, as the country was on the precipice of change.

The day before our delegation arrived, Andres Manuel López Obrador (“AMLO” as he is also known to the public) was elected the 58th President of Mexico. Considered by many as the Mexican Bernie Sanders, López Obrador’s progressive agenda is focused on eliminating corruption, expanding employment opportunities for youth and ensuring that all Mexicans have the opportunities to succeed. A signature of López Obrador’s platform is to move Mexico into its fourth transformation-following the country’s independence, revolution and church dominance. At the core of completing this transformation is expanding higher education access to more Mexicans than ever before.

López Obrador plans to create 100 new public universities during his six years in office. Through this effort, he hopes to eliminate higher education inequality in Mexico. As recently as 2016, only 3 out of 10 college-aged Mexicans were pursuing higher education. According to the plan, universities would be regionally focused and cater to the needs of the students and the economy of the area. Many critics are asking if it is possible to open such a large number of universities in a short time frame. And, if López Obrador succeeds in expanding access to higher education, how will the Mexican government ensure that the universities provide a quality education for all students? For example, will there be a process to ensure that Professors have adequate credentials to serve in their roles? Or, that degrees from the proposed 100 public universities will be valued by the public and private sector?

Ensuring access to a quality higher education is something that officials in the United States have grappled with over the past decade. President Obama worked to hold the for-profit industry accountable for not offering quality education to low-income students. Through the launch of a rating system, President Obama hoped to assess how institutions were serving students based on affordability, completion rates, and employability. In recent years, policymakers have shifted their emphasis from higher education quality to elevating technical education as a viable option for all students. While this emphasis expands access to higher education, it does not specifically focus on quality.

When President Andres Manuel López Obrador creates the 100 new public universities, he should ensure they are of the highest quality. This means hiring adequate staff, world-class professors and providing substantial financial support for students to attend. By doing so, President Andres Manuel López Obrador will truly make strides toward reaching the fourth transformation of Mexico.-A.G.