Beyond the specific demands regarding education, there is a feeling that the protests reflect a "deep discontent" among some parts of society with Chile's high level of inequality.

Student protestors have not achieved all their objectives, but they contributed to a dramatic fall in Piñera's approval rating, which was measured at 26–30% in August 2011 polls by respected Chilean pollsters and had not increased by January 2012.

The Economist explained the protests as being the result of "one of world’s lowest levels of public funding for higher education, some of the longest degrees and no comprehensive system of student grants or subsidized loans" and a flat job market as the detonant.

[8] Historian Gabriel Salazar describes the student conflict as being the continuation of a long strife between popular citizen movements and civic and military dictatorships.

[11] Bachelet has defended the legacy of her government and said that in the aftermath of the Penguin Revolution the right-wing opposition prevented them from eliminating for-profit activity in education.

Víctor Lobos, intendant of Biobío Region attributed the protests to the increasing number of children born outside matrimony claiming that this condition made them susceptible to "anarchism".

However, their demands have also been included in CONFECH's proposal and include: Additionally, some segments of the student movement have called for additional changes, such as a constitutional amendment guaranteeing quality education, an increase in the tax rate of higher earners (which is low in comparison to OECD countries),[19] higher taxes for foreign extractors of or renationalization of Chile's copper resources.

[25] On July 5 Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced in a televised speech educational reforms that his government planned to do in order to satisfy the student demands.

Camila Vallejo, one of the movement's spokespersons and the president of the University of Chile student federation said that the presidential discourse "was a great disappointment and a backward step" and emphasized that the proposal to legalize for-profit activity in education, which is currently illegal but widely practised in private institutions, goes against the Chilean state of law and that the government rejected categorically the main point presented by the secondary students which was to place public secondary and primary education under state management instead of being under municipalities.

[29] Students marched on July 14 together with contractors from El Teniente mine that were on strike in one of the largest protests since the return to democracy in Chile two decades prior.

On July 18, Chilean Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín was replaced by Felipe Bulnes, as President Sebastián Piñera opted for a cabinet shuffle in response to the months of protest.

[34][35][36] On August 18, the government offered a third proposal for ending the conflict; primary among the new means was a reduction of government-backed student loan rates to 2% APR.

[41] On the 24th, upwards of three hundred people were arrested, with six police officers wounded in Santiago, where protesters constructed roadblocks and damaged cars and buildings.

[43] On the 38th anniversary of Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup d'état against socialist president Salvador Allende on September 11, 2011, police arrested around 280 people in protests in Santiago.

[50] In August 2012 a number of schools and universities including Instituto Nacional, Liceo José Victorino Lastarria and Universidad de Chile were occupied by students.

[54] On October 14, 2015, members of CONFECH gathered at Plaza Italia in downtown Santiago and marched down Bernardo O'Higgins until they reached Echaurren Street.

The U.S. Department of State's Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) released an official warning to American companies based in Chile about potential violence between the student protesters and the militarized police force.

In accordance to Brooke Gladstone views on mainstream media bias in "The Influence Machine," Chilean journalists have been criticized for their minimal coverage surrounding the ongoing student protests and cases of police brutality.

For example, the 2015 Freedom of the Press Index declared that self-censorship and political bias is common in Chile where the media tends to promote governmental economic interests in addition to what some may call "infotainment."