Admission 2027: everything you need to know to apply to university in Chile

On January 4, 2027, at 08:00 in the morning, hundreds of thousands of people will find out their PAES scores. One hour later, applications to universities open, and they last only four days. In that window you decide what you will study, where and with what funding. The good news is that almost everything that defines that outcome can be prepared starting today: the dates are official, the list of programs has been published and the form for free tuition and scholarships is already open.

This guide brings together what you need for Admission 2027 in Chile: the full calendar, how the PAES works, how your score is calculated, the requirements to apply, the most in-demand degrees and universities, cut-off scores, rankings, salaries by degree and funding options. Every figure comes from official sources (DEMRE, the Ministry of Education, the Undersecretariat of Higher Education) or from media outlets that cite them, and each one carries a link so you can verify it. The official sources are in Spanish.

Admission 2027 in numbers

Before getting into the detail, it helps to size the process. The closest reference is Admission 2026, whose results the Ministry of Education released in January this year. According to the official PAES results, 300,596 people registered, 257,750 took at least one test (85.8% attendance) and 231,060 were eligible to apply.

Of those, 189,404 actually applied and 161,911 were selected at one of the 47 universities in the Access System, 2.3% more than the year before. Put differently: about 85% of those who applied were selected in one of their preferences (our own calculation from the two official figures). The challenge is not "getting in somewhere", but getting into what you want.

One more piece of context. Chilean higher education as a whole has never had so many students: according to the 2026 enrollment report by SIES, 1,497,548 people are enrolled across undergraduate, graduate and post-degree programs, 3% more than in 2025 and the fifth consecutive year of growth.

Admission 2027 calendar: the dates you cannot miss

The calendar is set by DEMRE at Universidad de Chile together with the Undersecretariat of Higher Education. These are the current dates from the official calendar of the 2027 Admission Process, including those that have already passed, so you know where you are in the process.

Watch out for the dates circulating online

While preparing this guide we found sites publishing the previous process's dates for Admission 2027 (applications from January 5 to 8 and results on the 19th). The correct ones are those in the table: applications from January 4 to 7 and selection results on the 18th. If a search engine or an AI assistant gives you a different date, check it against demre.cl or acceso.mineduc.cl before writing it down.

What if you did not register in time?

Registration closed on July 27 and, as DEMRE warned when it opened the process, from this year there is no extraordinary period. That does not necessarily leave you out of higher education in 2027. You have three paths:

• Apply with previous scores. PAES scores remain valid for the following process, so those who took the PAES for Admission 2026 or the Winter PAES in June 2026 can use them in January.
• Special or direct admission. Each university has its own routes (athletes, artistic talent, workers, continuing studies, among others) with different requirements and deadlines.
• Professional institutes and technical training centers. They do not require the PAES and account for 44.7% of the country's undergraduate enrollment.

What the PAES is like: tests, questions and times

The Higher Education Access Test (PAES) replaced the PSU and measures competencies more than memorized content. There are five tests: two mandatory, two elective and one specific mathematics test that certain degrees require. The official schedule for this process is as follows.

On Monday the 30th, between 12:00 and 13:00, test-takers can visit their assigned rooms. On Rapa Nui all tests and the room visit take place one hour earlier. DEMRE recommends arriving at least 30 minutes before each test.

Which tests you must take

Students in their final year of high school must take the two mandatory tests (Reading Competence and M1) and at least one elective, Sciences or History and Social Sciences. M2 is added when the degree requires it. Graduates from previous years can choose between one and five tests, depending on which scores they want to improve.

M2: the test that opens or closes doors

M2 is the big strategic decision in the process. In the 2027 offer, 521 programs require M2, 22 more than in Admission 2026. Its weighting ranges from 5% to 20%, and more than 60% of the programs that require it set it at the 5% minimum. Average M2 scores are lower than those of the other tests but, as DEMRE director Leonor Varas explained, that affects everyone equally and does not hurt your chances. What does hurt them is not having registered for it: you are automatically excluded from any degree that requires it.

How much it costs

The general fee for the regular PAES 2026 was CLP 46,500. Final-year students from municipal schools, Local Public Education Services, delegated-administration schools and subsidized private schools get the PAES Scholarship, which covers the full amount. For graduates from previous years the price depends on the number of tests.

Anyone who registers for M1 can add M2 at no cost, and vice versa.

How scores turned out in the previous process

The PAES is reported on a scale from 100 to 1,000 points. In Admission 2026, the average of the mandatory tests rose from 610 to 620 points. These were the averages by test reported by the Ministry of Education.

That same process set a record: 2,861 perfect scores, of which 2,754 were in M1. In practice, that means that in the most selective degrees a perfect M1 score stopped being a differentiating factor, and that the other tests and school grades weigh more than many people think.

How your weighted score is calculated: NEM, ranking and PAES

You do not apply with a single score. Each program combines several factors with different weights, and the result is your weighted score for that specific program. That is why the same person can have 740 points for Business Administration at one university and 715 for Law at another.

The three types of factors

• NEM score. The conversion of your high school grade average to the score scale.
• Grade Ranking score. It compares your grades with those of the three previous cohorts at your own school. Under the current formula it works as a bonus on top of the NEM: if your average is above your school's historical average, you gain points. Its minimum weighting is 10%.
• PAES scores. Reading Competence, M1, the elective the program accepts and M2 where applicable.

Each university decides autonomously how much each factor weighs, respecting the minimums set by the Technical Access Committee. The exact weightings for every program are in the Final Offer of Programs, Places and Weightings, a 577-page document DEMRE published on September 24.

A worked example

The following case is illustrative: the weightings do not correspond to any particular program and only show the mechanics. The weighted score is the sum of each score multiplied by its percentage.

Two lessons come out of the table. First, in this example school grades (NEM plus ranking) explain a third of the score, and that is already settled by the time December arrives. Second, a poor M2 score weighs little if the weighting is low, which reinforces the case for registering for it.

The new ranking does not apply yet

You have probably heard that the ranking is changing. It is, but not for you if you apply now. According to DEMRE, the new formula applies from the 2028 Admission Process. With it, the ranking will stop being a bonus on top of the NEM and will measure only each student's relative position within their school context, on a scale from 458 to 1,000 points. For Admission 2027 the current formula remains.

Requirements to apply through centralized admission

Taking the PAES is not enough. To be eligible and apply to the system's 47 universities you need to meet these conditions:

1. Have taken the mandatory tests (Reading Competence and M1) and at least one elective.
2. Reach the minimum score: an average of 458 points or more across the two mandatory tests, or a grade average that places you in the top 10% of your graduating class.
3. Have taken M2 if the degree requires it.
4. Meet the program's own requirements. Some set minimum application scores or special tests, and teaching degrees have higher entry requirements defined by law.

On teaching degrees there is a figure that speaks of vocation: although the total number of people selected fell in Admission 2026 because of the tougher requirements, the selection rate through the regular route reached 92.4%, and more than 93% of those selected had placed the degree among their first three preferences.

How to apply, step by step

You apply online, at demre.cl or acceso.mineduc.cl, with a single application for all the universities in the system. You have from 09:00 on Monday January 4 to 13:00 on Thursday January 7, 2027.

1. Practice with the simulator. From October 13 to December 15 you can try combinations of programs with hypothetical scores and see how you would have fared against the previous process's results.
2. Check your scores on January 4. If you took the test more than once, the system considers your valid scores.
3. Choose up to 20 programs. There is no limit per university: you can spread them however you like.
4. Rank them by real preference. This is the most important rule, explained below.
5. Submit the application and keep the receipt. You can modify it as many times as you want while the period is open.
6. Check the results on January 18 at 12:00.
7. Enroll between January 19 and 21. If you are on a waiting list, the second stage runs from the 22nd to the 28th.

How the order of preferences works

The system goes through your list from top to bottom and selects you in the first program where your score is enough. From there, the preferences below it are removed, and you stay on the waiting list for those above it. Two practical consequences follow:

• Putting a "safe" program you do not really want first shuts you out of those that came after it, even if your score was enough for them.
• Putting the program you want most first, even if it looks hard, takes no option away from the ones that follow.

In Admission 2026, DEMRE highlighted that the number of people selected within their first three preferences increased, and attributed it to applicants being better informed.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the application for the last day: the deadline closes at 13:00, not at midnight.
• Applying to degrees that require M2 without having taken it.
• Using fewer preferences than available for fear of "ending up in something I don't want". If you don't want it, don't list it; if you would accept it, put it at the end.
• Looking only at last year's cut-off score. It is a reference, not a guarantee: it changes every year depending on who applies.
• Forgetting the FUAS. Without the form there is no free tuition or scholarships, even if you meet the requirements.

The most in-demand degrees

What do applicants want to study? These were the ten degrees with the most applications in Admission 2026, adding up all universities, according to the count published by T13 with DEMRE data.

Medicine does not only lead in volume: it had 27.25 applicants for each place, the highest ratio in the system. Five of the ten degrees are in health. The ones that grew most compared with the previous year were the civil engineering degrees and Chemistry and Pharmacy.

Medicine: the highest cut-off scores in the country

The cut-off score is the weighted score of the last person enrolled through the regular route. In Medicine, the most selective degree, the ten highest cut-offs in Admission 2026 were all above 920 points, according to Filadd's compilation based on official data.

One surprising detail: the Medicine program with the most applications in the country, the one at Universidad de Chile, does not have the highest cut-off. The cut-off also depends on how many places each university offers and how it weights each factor, so the scores of two universities are not directly comparable.

The most applied-to universities

By institution, Universidad de Chile was again the most applied-to, according to DEMRE figures reported by BioBioChile.

The list mixes state universities, traditional private universities and newer private ones, and shows that demand is not concentrated only in the oldest institutions or only in Santiago.

The 44 new programs in Admission 2027

This year's offer adds 44 study options that did not previously exist in the centralized system, spread across 23 institutions. According to the detail published by Pauta, they are concentrated in artificial intelligence and data, health and engineering. These are some examples.

Three trends can be read in the list. The first is that artificial intelligence now has undergraduate degrees with its own name. The second is that Medicine keeps expanding into the regions and into universities that did not offer it, which increases the places available in the most in-demand degree. The third is the crossing of disciplines: Universidad del Desarrollo, for example, added programs that combine Business Administration with Law, Psychology and Design.

A new program has an advantage and a risk. The advantage is that it does not carry a high historical cut-off score. The risk is that it has no graduates yet, so there is no employability data and, in many cases, no program accreditation. It is worth asking about both before adding it to your list.

University rankings: what they say and how to read them

Rankings help compare institutions, but each one measures different things. These are the three most cited and their latest results for Chile.

QS World University Rankings 2027

The world edition was published in June 2026 and included 17 Chilean universities. Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile are the only two in the country within the world's top 200.

QS Latin America and the Caribbean 2027

The regional edition was published on October 1, 2026. Universidad Católica ranked first in the region and Universidad de Chile seventh, according to BioBioChile. In total, 42 Chilean institutions appear, four of them among the top 20.

Times Higher Education Latin America 2026

The Times Higher Education regional ranking assessed 223 institutions from 16 countries. According to Forbes Chile, three Chilean universities made the top 20: Universidad Católica (3), Universidad de Chile (13) and Universidad de Tarapacá (18). The presence of a state university from Arica on that list shows that the same institution can appear very high in one ranking and very low in another: in the QS world ranking, Tarapacá is in the 1,401+ band.

How to use a ranking to decide

• Look at what it measures. International rankings mostly reward research and academic reputation, which matter less for undergraduate studies than the quality of teaching.
• Go down to the degree level. A university can be excellent in engineering and merely adequate in design. Rankings by subject and employability data by degree say more than the overall position.
• Check accreditation. The National Accreditation Commission reports how many years of accreditation each institution has. Institutional accreditation is also a requirement for your studies to be funded with free tuition and most state benefits.
• Consider the city. The cost of living away from home can exceed the difference in tuition between two universities.

Employability and income: which degrees pay best

The Ministry of Education's Mi Futuro portal crosses graduate data with information from the tax authority to estimate income and employability by degree. It is the most reliable source available for comparing. These are the ten highest average gross incomes four years after graduation, according to El Dínamo's summary.

Nine of the ten are civil engineering degrees or degrees tied to mining, which reflects the weight of that sector in the Chilean economy.

In the first year, the surprise comes from professional institutes

If you look at income in the first year after graduation, first place does not go to a university degree. Industrial Engineering taught at professional institutes averages CLP 2,671,893, above Medicine (CLP 2,649,836). Third place goes to a technical degree: Technician in Instrumentation, Automation and Industrial Control, with CLP 2,156,061. The figure challenges the idea that only university guarantees a good income, although it should be read with care: many graduates of those programs were already working while they studied.

The degrees with the highest employability

Income is only one part. First-year employability indicates what percentage of graduates have formal work. This is the ranking published by Meganoticias with Mi Futuro data.

Two caveats about this data. These are averages: within the same degree there are large differences depending on the university, the region and each person's performance. And they look backwards: they describe people who graduated some years ago, not the job market you will find when you finish. Use them to rule out unrealistic expectations, not to choose a degree you are not interested in.

How much studying costs and how to pay for it

Tuition is the second big variable after your score. According to data from Fundación por una Carrera reported by Meganoticias, these were the degrees with the highest average annual tuition in 2025.

These are average values and each university sets its own, plus an annual enrollment fee. In a seven-year degree like Medicine, total tuition easily exceeds CLP 65 million at 2025 values. That is why funding is as decisive as the score.

FUAS 2027: the form that is open right now

The Single Socioeconomic Accreditation Form (FUAS) is the gateway to all state benefits. The first period is open from October 1 to October 22, 2026 at fuas.cl. What you should know:

• It is free and completed online.
• You do not need to have taken the PAES or to know yet where you will study.
• Having an up-to-date Social Household Registry speeds up the assessment, although it is not mandatory for submitting the form.
• It must be completed by those finishing high school in 2026, graduates from previous years who will start studying in 2027 and current students without benefits.
• In the previous process there was a second period between February and March. It will probably be repeated, but it is better not to count on it: those who apply in October get their result earlier.

Free tuition, scholarships and loans

With a single form you apply to all of these benefits:

• Free tuition (gratuidad). It covers tuition and the enrollment fee for the formal duration of the degree for students from the 60% of lowest-income households who enroll at a participating institution.
• Tuition scholarships. Including Bicentenario, Nuevo Milenio, Juan Gómez Millas, Academic Excellence, Distinction for Educational Trajectories, Technical Excellence, Teaching Vocation and Disability.
• University Credit Solidarity Fund (FSCU).
• State-Guaranteed Loan (CAE).

The scale of this aid is larger than people usually think. In 2026 the Undersecretariat of Higher Education awarded 751,579 benefits to 749,015 students, equivalent to 67.38% of undergraduate enrollment.

57% of those with free tuition study at universities and 43% at professional institutes or technical training centers. In addition, 61.09% of the benefits were awarded outside the Santiago Metropolitan Region. One point to keep in mind: initial awards, that is, those for people receiving the benefit for the first time, fell 6.1% compared with 2025 because the socioeconomic assessment became stricter. Completing the form properly and keeping household data up to date matters more than before.

Access routes that widen your options

Besides the regular route, the system has mechanisms designed to correct gaps. If one of them fits you, it can change your result.

PACE

The Higher Education Access Program supports students from highly vulnerable schools from high school onwards and guarantees them additional places. In Admission 2026, 11,544 people eligible through PACE were selected, 6.3% more than the year before. Their selection rate relative to those who apply is higher than average, something DEMRE attributes to the support they receive.

More Women Scientists (+MC)

These are additional places for women who are on the waiting list in basic science and technology degrees, assigned to the best weighted scores. In 2026 they allowed 1,807 women to be selected and raised female participation in those areas from 31.7% to 32.1%. For Admission 2027, 534 programs offer +MC places, 21 more than last year. It requires no separate procedure: it is applied automatically when you apply.

Each university's special admission

Almost all universities have their own places for outstanding athletes, artistic or scientific talent, people with previous studies, workers and foreign students. Deadlines are usually earlier than the January application period, so it is worth checking them now on each institution's admission site.

University, professional institute or technical training center

University is not the only path, and the numbers confirm it. Of the 1,372,167 undergraduate students in Chile in 2026, 55.3% are at universities (759,045 people), 37.1% at professional institutes and 7.6% at technical training centers.

Another growing trend is distance education: it already represents 15.1% of undergraduate enrollment and grew 13.5% in a year. At professional institutes it reaches 30%. For people who work or live far from the big urban centers, it is an alternative that barely existed a decade ago.

Technical degrees are shorter, cost less and, as the income data showed, some have better job prospects than many university degrees. Free tuition and several scholarships also apply at participating institutes and technical training centers, provided you complete the FUAS.

What to do from today until enrollment

With all of the above, this is the order of tasks we recommend, month by month.

A word on where to get your information

More and more applicants ask an AI assistant for dates and requirements instead of searching for them. It is convenient, but it carries a specific risk: those assistants build their answer from what they find published, and on the internet this process's dates sit alongside those of previous ones. We explained that phenomenon in our analysis of the mistakes AI makes with outdated information. For anything with a deadline, the final source should be demre.cl, acceso.mineduc.cl or fuas.cl.

The same phenomenon is a challenge for universities. Whether a university appears with correct information when an applicant asks about a degree depends on how well published and supported its data is on the web, something we cover in the guide to link building for universities and education and in the article on backlinks from Chilean universities. At ESBUENISIMO LINKS we work with institutions and brands on link building and visibility strategies for search engines and artificial intelligence.

In summary

Admission 2027 is decided at four moments: the FUAS (until October 22), the PAES (November 30 to December 2), the application (January 4 to 7) and enrollment (from January 19). Your score depends on the tests, but also on grades that are already settled and on weightings you can check today. And your result depends as much on the score as on how you rank your preferences.

The data shows a system with more places, more programs and more aid than ever: about 85% of those who apply are selected and two out of three undergraduate students have some state benefit. The difference between getting in where you want and getting in where your score happened to reach usually comes down to information. Save this guide, write down the dates and verify every deadline with the official sources.