In Chile's university system, five careers—Psychology, Law, Business Engineering, Nursing, and Industrial Civil Engineering—account for nearly 30% of total enrollment. For first-year intake in 2025, the top ten most massive careers concentrate 42% of new students. This stable pattern reflects social, family, and labor influences that perpetuate traditional preferences.
The map of preferences in Chile's higher education remains concentrated in a stable group of careers with high symbolic and labor weight. Psychology leads with 56,500 enrolled in 41 universities and continues to rise, while Nursing loses momentum after the pandemic boom.
Within this core, Civil Engineering in Computing and Informatics shows the highest growth: 51% from 2021 to 2025, exceeding 17,800 students. Andrés Fuentes, academic vice-rector of the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, attributes this to the global technological explosion. “We are living an explosion of technological progress: artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, and cybersecurity are being incorporated rapidly into almost all productive sectors,” he explains. He adds that these areas address challenges like climate change and smart cities, with a significant talent gap in cybersecurity and AI.
In the technical-professional system, Computing and Informatics Engineering, Business Administration, and Nursing Technician top enrollment, but the fastest-growing careers are Logistics Engineering (111%), Electricity Engineering (128%), and Industrial Engineering (201%) from 2021 to 2025. These fields drive automation, e-commerce, and energy transition.
Diego Errázuriz, Admission Director at Duoc UC, highlights the pragmatic focus on employability, especially among working adults. “Today many people seek educational paths that provide certainty, quick reconversion, and real employability,” he notes. In Electricity, demand grows due to infrastructure in regions like Biobío and Los Lagos, with employment over 10%. Carlos Aravena from Instituto Profesional IACC points to 1.5 million adults aged 30-44 without higher education, drawn to online modalities and higher incomes in technology fields.
Leonor Varas, DEMRE Director at Universidad de Chile, urges exploring the wide range of alternative programs beyond traditional ones, available on the official DEMRE website.