Icetex reform must focus on how the entity is financed, experts say

Little has been discussed about the situation that has been going through the Colombian education system in the field of financing. On this occasion Icetex is one of the affected entities, because in recent months the box for rates subsidies is over due to the fiscal situation that the country is going through. Reason why, Many students face high cost loans and in cases, in impossibility of payment.

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Due to this and other situations, the representative to the Chamber, Catherine Juvinao, filed a bill with which a structural reform to Icetex is proposed, “Strengthening operational and administrative processes, promoting fair and flexible social educational credit conditions and providing for responding to the needs of the entity’s users”

Specifically, The reform proposes a rave cap that could not exceed the annual IPC + 2 points; Interest capitalization prohibits ordering that in each payment quota the contribution to capital is greater than interest; A total indebtedness limit where the beneficiary does not pay more than 1.5 times the real value disbursed, among other provisions.

With that context, One of the points that most attracts attention has to do with financing. As read in the project, it is sought that the financing be stable with charge to the General Budget of the Nation (PGN), where the resources for subsidy of rates in strata 1, 2 and 3 are shielded, with compensation of the CPI when inflation exceeds the two digits, subsidies of support and condoms by graduation and excellence.

Even the discussion about the entity has led the congresswoman and the Minister of Education, Daniel Rojas, to have a series of shocks on behalf of the budget that will be assigned to the Icetex next year and if resources for the subsidies of the students of strata 1, 2 and 3 will be included.

It should be noted that the reform would be ready for second debate, where students have asked to advance with the discussion.

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Now, experts in the sector agree that Icetex does not need to focus the debate on a reform that has a structural transformation, It is based on the relevance and sufficiency of its financing and regulation model.

According to Omar Garzón, researcher at the Economics Laboratory for Education (LEE) of the Javeriana University, Icetex requires strengthening three strategic fronts. First, he says, It is essential to guarantee permanent and predictable resources to sustain the offer of educational credit; Organize a clear regulatory framework for forgives, establish objective and sustainable criteria and rethink the amortization and payment schemes, incorporating contingent models to admission.

“This would reduce the risks of default and the permanence in the educational system would be increased, ensuring that ICETEX effectively complies with its mission of expanding access to higher education”, He states.

For his part, the rector of the EIA University, José Manuel Restrepo, told this media that the reform he needs The Icetex must focus on a better financing of the entity in the long term, where current interest rates are reviewed.

“It is needed to be a much more executive, effective and agile entity, even in the attention to these financing needs of young people and with new products, such as contingent income financing and another kind of figures that already exist today at the international level”He said.

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The initiative states that the beneficiary does not pay more than 1.5 times the real value disbursed.

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What is at stake?

Basically what is in Juago today is the educational future of the young people of the country. In fact, due to the situation, It has been questioned if this is the ideal time to make the reform on the Icetex.

According to Garzón, the current situation of the entity shows a deterioration in its operational and financial capacity. For 2025, The loan offer was reduced to 10,000, when the historical average reached 25,000which implies a contraction close to 60% in potential coverage.

“This fact, by itself, reveals that the entity is not able to respond to the demand for educational financing, and that its role as a public policy of access to education is at risk“, argument.

He added that to this same limitation, the persistence of effective interest rates is added due to the elimination of subsidy and rigid amortization schemes, which generate unsustainable pressures on the beneficiaries. “Difficulties in covering fees during the first years of labor links increase default and translate into dropout. At the same time, institutional instability and uncertainty about the future direction of Icetex affect the confidence of both students and families“, said.

Likewise, the rector of the EIA, He argued that this is the time to modify the failures of the Icetex, while Congress is the ideal instance for that purpose. “If it is achieved, it is a large consensus between the Congress, the higher education sector and the government proposal, fantastic. What should not be is a modification following an ideological logic that ends up by stateing the higher education system, which is a bit what we have seen,” he concluded.

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Stable financing would be sought through the General Budget of the Nation, with subsidies for students of strata 1, 2 and 3.

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A fact that must be corrected

The implications for the future of the students are not positive, if the problems of Icetex are not corrected. According to Lee’s researcher Omar Garzón, A sustained reduction in the offer of credits implies that fewer young people can access higher educationwhich limits the function of Icetex as a vehicle of equity and social mobility. “The continuity of little flexible payment schemes leads to high levels of indebtedness, higher dropout rates and lower financial well -being in the educational trajectory.”

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Diana K. Rodríguez T.
Portfolio journalist