The University of La Serena offers alternatives to improve the quality of life of its students with support in money, food, kindergarten and accommodation.

It is no secret to anyone that entering higher education entails efforts for the entire family, which is why the University of La Serena, in order to give a “push” to young people who choose it as their alma mater, has a series of internal benefits and those of the Ministry of Education that are intended to provide relief to students who enter year after year through the single application system.

Through the General Directorate of Student Affairs, students opt for timely benefits and reliable services, which are accessed by applying every semester and meeting the requested requirements.

The ULS's own benefits are lunch scholarships; lunch money; residence resources; and financial support for those who may require it to pay bills or cover an emergency; kindergarten for daughters and sons of students; and university homes.

The director of Student Affairs, Alan Olivares, explained that the “Los Papayitos Nursery Room and Kindergarten” is an establishment in agreement with the National Board of Kindergartens that serves the sons and daughters of students to provide them with the support they need. required to continue their higher education.

Meanwhile, the homes of the University of La Serena have 23 places and their immediate objective is to provide an alternative solution to the housing problem during the academic period to a certain number of students, who, in compliance with the socioeconomic and academic requirements, proceed from other regions or localities remote from the Coquimbo Region.

For María Fernanda Miranda, student of Basic General Pedagogy, “having lived in the student home provided by the university was very advantageous, because without that benefit I would not have been able to continue my studies, since I am not from the region. All the staff in charge were always very concerned about all of us who lived in the residence, they gave us cleaning supplies, we were in a very quiet neighborhood with services nearby, and all of this provides peace of mind, so I invite everyone who will begin to study at the ULS who apply for this benefit and to all those provided internally by the university.”

The ULS is free of charge, an option that is a right for young people who are part of families that come from the lowest 60% of income in the country and, every year hundreds of university students qualify for this national benefit.

For those who for some reason lose this benefit, the only state university in the Coquimbo Region provides a solution. This is the case of Osciel Olmos, a student who graduated from the Pedagogy degree in Differential Education, who lost his free tuition and, approaching student welfare, achieved a new opportunity by accessing a reduction in the degree fee and along with it “a credit that “It allowed me to continue studying and without the help of the social workers I would not have known how to do it.”

“I think that in addition to realizing what tradition and quality of education the university we choose has, it is necessary to know the quality of people who work and provide help, because in critical moments we must be informed and the people who are at the university every day They are the ones that help us,” he stressed.

Finally, Alan Olivares called on those who are selected to enroll 100% online: “we have a large team that supports the students, highlighting the benefits, whether from the Department of Welfare or those provided by the MINEDUC or JUNAEB. The internal scholarships provide monetary benefits for mobilization, food, academic resources and rent, not to mention also the care in the health area that we have, where professionals from various areas provide care to the students who belong to our house of study".

State universities provide tradition and prestige, more affordable costs, better job positioning, a wide diversity of careers, an inclusive approach and quality education, the latter supported by the accreditation and certification of their careers, achieving quality models that They allow the training of professionals according to what the market and the country in general need.