Resumen:
In this paper we analyze the impact of government-guaranteed credit for higher education in Chile on outcomes for high school students. Using minimum requirements in the national admission test to qualify for credit and the fact this reform should have affected students in the margin of attending college, we estimate the impact of the reform using different data sources and aggregation levels. First, using administrative data at students level for those cohorts who were high school freshmen before 2005 we find that students who who belonged to schools with average scores that were below the minimum requirement for credit in the year previous to the reform, improve their school completion, simultaneously to greater availability of college aid. Then, using household data aggregated at municipal level, we find a drop in the probability of dropping out and being a teen mom, as well an increase in high school completion and college attendance.