President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced that with the new system “Mi derecho, mi lugar” (My Right, My Place), the figure of the “rejected student” has been eliminated in access to upper secondary education in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico. According to the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), 97.4 percent of young applicants obtained a place among their first three choices, leaving behind the former COMIPEMS system.
Of the total applicants, 68.4 percent were assigned to their first choice, 21.1 percent to their second, and 7.9 percent to their third. Additionally, 68 percent of students secured a spot in schools located less than five kilometers from their homes. Sheinbaum highlighted that this transformation seeks to revalue youth and guarantee that education is a right, not a privilege.
“Most importantly: there are no rejected students, the rejected no longer exist. Let them know that school is inclusive, that it embraces them, and that they will attend the school closest to their home,” the president stated during her morning press conference. She recalled that in 2024, under COMIPEMS, only 26 percent entered their first choice, while this year that figure rose to 68.4 percent.
The Secretary of Public Education, Mario Delgado Carrillo, explained that with this new mechanism, access to high school went from being a competitive process to becoming the full exercise of a right. He reported that in 2025 there were 15,000 more students enrolled compared to 2024 and announced the construction of 20 new schools, 35 expansions, and the conversion of 33 morning-shift secondary schools into high schools.
The Undersecretary of Upper Secondary Education, Tania Rodríguez Mora, detailed that 40.8 percent of young people gained their spot directly, 13.7 percent through exams at UNAM and IPN, while 45.5 percent opted for both modalities. She noted that, unlike 2024—when 31.4 percent of applicants were assigned to options between the sixth and twentieth—this year that percentage dropped to 0. The platform www.miderechomilugar.gob.mx will remain open until August 28 for those who still do not have an assigned place.
