Tuesday, 27 October 2026Read the signal. Shape what comes next.
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Outlook 2027

Outlook 2027: Latin America and the Caribbean edition

Five papers from our editors on what will shape higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2027. Data-led, sourced line by line, and written for the people who run universities.

Richard DaviesPolicy, finance and quality

Public universities under fiscal pressure: Argentina litigates, Chile's bill trims core grants, Colombia legislates

Argentina's universities hold a financing law the Executive suspended and face a 2027 bill below their request; Chile's 2027 bill cuts core grants; Colombia has legislated a target of 1% of GDP. Funding security now depends on legal design.

30.4% Real fall in Argentine university spending, January to August 2025 versus same 2023 period

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Rachel SmithRecruitment, international and students

Visa news nears double global share as northern doors narrow for Latin America and the Caribbean

Colombia and Peru sent record numbers of students to the US in 2024/25, but new US enrolments and Canadian study permits have since contracted sharply. Institutions whose graduate pipelines and scholarship schemes run north now face harder choices.

3.7% Share of tracked regional higher education news on students and visas, 28 days

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Sarah WilliamsonTeaching, digital and AI, and the academic workforce

Widely used, thinly governed: AI's quiet spread through universities in Latin America and the Caribbean

Nearly nine in ten surveyed institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean use AI, but only 26% have a formal strategy, and AI was 2.5% of the regional higher education news we tracked over 28 days. Public universities and students carry the risk.

2.5% AI share of regional higher education news tracked, 28 days to late October 2026

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Scott JamesResearch, innovation and industry

Brazil's science budget rises in nominal terms, but loans and industry missions steer the money

Brazil's 2026 Budget Law lifts the science ministry and makes the FNDCT the main research funding instrument. The growth is concentrated in repayable and mission-linked money, while investment spending and agency discretionary budgets look less secure.

about R$17.7bn FNDCT in Brazil's 2026 Budget Law, according to the SBPC

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Abigail TaylorLeadership, governance, campus and civic role

Free tuition, full classrooms: gratuidad is now a governance question in Chile, Colombia and Mexico

Chile's gratuidad covered 634,229 students in 2026, Colombia claims 97% of public undergraduates study free and Mexico's Supreme Court has widened what free must mean. Funding is tightening around the promise, from Chile's eligibility checks to Mexico's widening estimated shortfall, and boards must plan for it.

634,229 Students studying under Chile's gratuidad in the 2026 academic year

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