Abstract

Chilean higher education has experienced vast, and in many ways groundbreaking, changes since 1980. Certain policy developments have been subject to various studies, but the overarching principles and underlying assumptions have remained less explored. The same applies to transitional changes in state approaches to sector-specific regulation that, once established, would remain relatively stable. Through content analysis of policy statements over three decades, this study critically reviews past accounts of the evolution of policy, proposing a new reading of the steps involved in organizing policy settings and the general criteria underpinning these. Beyond allowing a better understanding of the transformation of higher education in Chile, the article concludes with some suggestions around the growing difficulties faced in forming sectoral policy.