In the present study, a parallel is established between both processes on the way to university free admission: after some preliminary considerations that seek to contextualize the concern about the challenge of education, its coverage and the assurance of its quality, a synthesis of the Argentine process that, with a view of higher education as the responsibility of the state, which seeks to satisfy a right of the people, has had its flaws and "unwanted collateral effects", such as high dropout rates. Next, the Chilean case is deepened, with an emphasis on the last decade (in which social demands have been bringing the issue to the fore) and on the characteristics and scope that gratuity currently has; Finally, in the section "Upcoming challenges", some of the pending challenges and the lines of action that the Chilean path to free education are likely to follow are presented.