Millennium Institute MIPP and Its Diverse Free Initiatives: Financial Education for Everyone

The Diario Financiero recently published a feature highlighting various activities organized by the Millennium Institute MIPP to make its research accessible to non-expert audiences. Among these, its financial education initiatives stand out for being free, online, and offering high-quality content.

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Founded in 2015, the primary mission of MIPP is to conduct cutting-edge research that serves public policy in economics and related fields. However, the institute also engages in outreach activities to disseminate its findings to broader audiences, with a strong focus on financial education.

This focus addresses a pressing need in Chile. According to the 2018 PISA test, 30% of Chilean students fall below the basic level of knowledge in economics and financial education. Furthermore, fewer women than men achieve the highest proficiency levels, with only 2% of women reaching these levels compared to 4% of men.

Key Initiatives

1. “La Ciudad de las Oportunidades”
   Since 2018, MIPP and the Central Bank of Chile have offered this free online course designed for teachers and education students. Now in its seventh edition, the program has over 2,000 graduates from previous cohorts.“The main goal of the course is to bring economics and finance closer to teachers, enabling them to have a multiplier effect with their students, helping them make better everyday decisions. Chile has low levels of financial literacy, and we believe this initiative helps close these gaps by reaching a larger number of students,” explains Andrea Canales, MIPP researcher, University of O’Higgins academic, and course content manager.Certified by the Ministry of Education’s Center for Pedagogical Improvement, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation (CPEIP), the course is organized into six modules covering topics such as basic concepts in micro and macroeconomics, the financial system, personal finance, and the role of the Central Bank of Chile.
2. “Aprende Central”
   This new training initiative, also developed with the Central Bank, targets a broad audience eager to learn about economics and personal finance. Under the slogan “Financial Education for All,” the course launched its first edition a few weeks ago, accommodating 1,000 participants.
3. Bootcamp for High School Girls
   In partnership with the University of Chile’s Summer School, MIPP organizes an intensive economics and finance course aimed at high school girls. The second edition recently graduated 45 students. Andrea Canales notes, “We aim to reduce gender gaps in economic topics nationwide, which is why the Bootcamp was entirely free and open to participants from different regions.”

Through these and other initiatives, the Millennium Institute MIPP continues to play a pivotal role in enhancing financial literacy and making economic knowledge accessible to all.