Although the monthly fees of private faculties They do not always fit in the financial reality of Brazilians, this is where 95% of the places in undergraduate courses are, according to the latest Higher Education Census of 2023. This is one of the reasons why the federal government has been betting on social programs, such as the FIES AND PROUNIin order to facilitate the entry of students. Even so, more than half of the vacancies are no longer filled.
Last year, the Student Financing Fund (Fies) made available 112 thousand student financingbut only 21,000 contracts were signed. This represents 19% of available financing. In view of the 48,000 accounted for in 2023, the signed contracts fell 56%. See more details of the concessions history in the following chart.
But low adherence draws attention in a context in which the program establishes the payment of tuition only after the completion of the course. Along with this, the last year was released, a special modality that reserves 50% of the vacancies for students with per capita family income of up to half a minimum wage and registered in the Cadastro Único (Cadúnico). For the first quarter of 2025, to 67,301 vacancies available from Tuesday (4) until this Friday (7)
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In the same way, the University for All Program (), which grants integral and partial scholarshipsIt has not been able to occupy all open opportunities.
Second, out of 5.4 million vacancies offered between 2010 and 2020, only 2.2 million were filled (41%). It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Education (MEC) does not make available to the public information about the contracts signed in the last 4 years.
Nevertheless, the number of vacancies in ProUni has grown: by 2023 there were 565 thousand and, the following year, more than 650 thousand. Registration for the first half of 2025, which offered 338,000 bags, ended last week and, from February 26, will start the first call of the recipients.
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O Infomoney It questioned whether the MEC has evaluated measures to ensure the filling of idle vacancies in both programs, but the folder did not comment on the matter. By note, the only stressed that Prouni celebrates 20 years of existence in 2025, with 3.4 million beneficiaries. “Of the total students who participated in the program, women and blacks were the majority,” says the statement, not to mention Fies.
Restrictive criteria for candidates
In view of being the gateway to Low -income students at private universitiespart of the difficulty in filling these opportunities comes precisely from the criteria adopted. “The socioeconomic level is one of the conditions. Although it is not a sentence, it affects the result of Enem, ”explains Ocimar Alavrase, professor at the University of São Paulo Faculty of Education (Feusp) and coordinator of the Educational Evaluation Studies and Research Group (Gepave).
Both Fies and Prouni have as a criterion for candidates an average of at least 450 points in Enem tests, in addition to the score greater than zero in the newsroom. However, Alavare emphasizes that low -income and public school students often have teaching lags, making it difficult to obtain higher grades and good classifications to gain the best opportunities.
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“The criterion of the note is like a ‘security measure’ for those who provide financing or the scholarship, whose thinking is: I cannot give financial resources to those who do not have academic resources, and that will not be able to complete the course.”
According to the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep), the average proficiency in ENEM 2024, considering all areas of knowledge evaluated in the exam. A year earlier, the average result was 543 points. These data, however, are general and do not cut by income range.
In the case of FIES, the understanding is that it is common for the college entrance exams to make prognosis of how much they will need to bear the installments when forming. And often these calculations make them give up financing and postpone the entry into higher education.
O Infomoney Recently told the story of Josiane de Souza, 19, who and try to pass at a public university next year. Even though she has studied much of her life in a private school without a scholarship, she says she was not an expensive or even elite college.
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“I did high school in Itapevi (SP), and the monthly fee was in the budget of my parents with the help of my grandparents. But I wasn’t a scholarship, so I can’t Prouni. ”
With a per capita family income of three minimum wages and an average in the ENEM of almost 700 points, the student is able to Fies, but she doesn’t want to. Its concern comes in the treadmill of the high indebtedness of the program: until May last year, Fies accounted for a debtor balance of R $ 114.2 billion, with more than 50% of default.
With an eye on the biomedicine course, Josiane dreams of a place in a public college: whether at the University of São Paulo (USP), the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) or at Paulista State University (Unesp). If it could be contemplated with a ProUni Bagthe student would consider the São Camilo University Center and the Anhembi Morumbi University.
Difficulties to enter college (and stay)
But if on the one hand FIES faces the fear of default, Prouni suffered from increasing partial scholarships, reducing the offer of remaining vacancies and lack of support for the entering student. At least this is what Lucia Teixeira, president of the Union of Entities Maintaining Higher Education (Semesp) and Santa Cecilia University (Unisanta), evaluates.
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She explains that, between 2016 and 2020, each full scholarship offered by the private university, two partials were made available. This trend has changed since then, but vacancies in the best colleges or in the most popular courses remain with the highest cut notes, making it difficult to access. “The protest, in general, came from the public school. If it is not a 100%scholarship, it will hardly enter higher education. ”
Lucia stresses that this student usually has other costs precisely to stay at university. Whether it is because college is not always close to housing or even with the daily life of classes. “He needs to feed, get driving, buy materials, all just to be there, following the disciplines.”
Precisely due to the difficulties of permanence and egress of students that some subsidies are given to these scholars. Studies who study in full courses with 100% scholarship are entitled to permanent assistance (PBP-Pouri), provided by MEC. In addition, undergraduate students recently had the half foot.
At the same time, some private universities also usually have their own programs for low -income students. Criteria may vary, as well as the benefit – ranging from food and transportation to financial resources.
Individual and collective loss
Although not able to ensure everyone’s access to higher education, both programs are taken as successful by experts. This is because they are considered palliative measures in the face of the lack of opportunities in public universities.
“Potential candidates for higher education are unable to attend it for lack of vacancies or financial resources. Prouni and FIES try to mitigate a picture that should not improve anytime soon, ”says FEUSP professor, OCIMA Alavaris, who regrets the fact that higher education does not receive appropriate public resources. He states that less growth from the university population will have negative impacts on the country in the long run.
This is because, while people with a higher education diploma tend to receive higher remuneration, the consumption capacity of families is higher, and the job market is supplied with more qualified professionals. “It is fair, in a certain degree, that society arises with it. There are, for example, isolated measures to support family members: when someone pays for college, it is possible to deduce from income tax. ”
The president of Semesp emphasizes that, specifically in the case of students contemplated with scholarships and student financing, there is lower withdrawal rates and academic averages similar to those of students of public universities.
“These students also carry academic excellence to the labor market, and they usually extend their studies to postgraduate studies. It is a gain for society as a whole, not just for that individual. ”
In August last year, about programs between 2013 and 2022, and pointed out problems of financial sustainability, transparency and governance. In all, R $ 148 billion of Budgetary Expenses were inspected of FIES, and another R $ 28 billion, referring to Prouni’s tax waivers.
“There was the absence of clear objectives and specific goals for key processes of programs, as well as the absence of performance indicators and effectiveness assessments of the programs by the federal government,” wrote Minister Walton Alencar Rodrigues. THE Infomoney It questioned if the MEC studies meeting these measures and if there is a forecast, but the folder did not comment on the subject.
