Graduates from accredited university programs in Paraguay earn salaries between 8% and 13% higher in formal employment compared to those from non-accredited programs. The conclusion comes from a study presented by the National Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education (Aneaes), together with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC) and the Industrial Union of Paraguay (UIP).
The research, titled "Accreditation of Undergraduate Programs and Salary Trajectory in Formal Employment in Paraguay," analyzed 245,358 university degrees and cross-referenced data from the Degree Registry of the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC), the list of accredited programs from Aneaes, and contribution records from the Social Security Institute (IPS), reconstructing 94,486 formal employment histories.
The identified salary differences range from 4.6% to 13.6%, depending on the age group analyzed, with the gap most pronounced among younger professionals aged 23 to 27. The pattern holds for both men and women and is observed in both the mean and median incomes.
Aneaes President José Duarte Penayo explained that the phenomenon is related to the recent establishment of accreditation as a market standard. "A worker who is 43 today may have graduated at a time when accreditation was not in effect or not as established as it is today," he stated. The agency clarified that the study shows a statistical association, not a direct causal relationship, as other factors such as field of study and experience also influence earnings.
The study also reveals that achieving a university level drastically reduces the likelihood of informal employment, dropping from 70.2% to 38.9%. Data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) cited in the report indicate that people with 12 or more years of education have only a 30% chance of falling into informality, compared to 90% for those with little or no schooling.
During the presentation, held as part of the "Education that Employs" campaign, the president of the Association of Public Universities of Paraguay (AUPP) and rector of the National University of Concepción, Clarito Rojas, offered sharp criticism. He stated that the public sector is the largest employer of graduates from non-accredited programs in the country. "In Health Sciences, for example, in state hospitals, probably 4 out of 10 are hired from accredited institutions and 6 from non-accredited ones," Rojas pointed out, questioning whether the state has an interest in deepening policies that link education to the value of accreditation.
José Duarte Penayo acknowledged that there is a significant gap and that it is the private sector, the market, that shows greater consideration in hiring people from programs with the quality seal.