Mexico doubles high school enrollment goal to 400,000 places

President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Mexico will double its six-year goal for new high school (bachillerato) places from 200,000 to 400,000, citing high demand during enrollment periods. The expansion covers in-person, hybrid, and distance modalities Source: excelsiormx. Education Secretary Mario Delgado said this will raise national upper-secondary coverage from 80% to 90% Source: lajornadamx.

Investment and infrastructure

In 2025, 88 schools were built or expanded, adding 44,000 places. For 2026, the government has allocated over 10 billion pesos for 485 construction and expansion projects, expected to create 156,240 new spaces Source: excelsiormx. Undersecretary Tania Rodríguez Mora detailed three strategies: building new campuses, expanding saturated ones, and converting secondary schools into afternoon bachillerato shifts Source: lajornadamx.

Access and retention

To reach the 400,000 target, the SEP will implement Saturday bachilleratos with tutoring, new shifts at high-demand schools, strengthen Prepa en Línea and Conafe bachillerato, and expand the Margarita Maza National Bachillerato, with enrollments already open Source: excelsiormx. Sheinbaum noted that the Benito Juárez scholarship has reduced dropout rates, which were historically high at this level Source: lajornadamx. Rodríguez acknowledged that many communities grew without planned educational infrastructure, and this program aims to address that shortfall Source: lajornadamx.

Disagreement

While both sources agree on the overall goal and investment figures, excelsiormx specifies 156,240 new spaces for 2026, whereas lajornadamx rounds to 156,000. Also, excelsiormx attributes the coverage increase to Delgado, while lajornadamx quotes him similarly but adds that the current 80% coverage is due to neoliberal-era construction lag Source: lajornadamx.