University Pé-de-Meia should start in 2027 with a R$700 stipend, minister says
The program for low-income students at public universities includes savings of R$250 a month; enrollment rules and payment dates have not yet been announced.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
Education Minister Leonardo Barchini said on Wednesday (Nov. 4) that the University Pé-de-Meia ("nest egg") program should begin operating in 2027, according to g1. The program will target low-income students enrolled in public universities and registered in CadÚnico, the federal government's registry for social programs.
In an interview with the Bom Dia, Ministro program on Canal Gov, Barchini said the MEC (Ministry of Education) is in the final stage of designing the benefit. However, he did not give a date for payments to begin, and neither the selection criteria nor the enrollment process have been detailed.
Under the plan presented, students will receive a stipend of R$700 a month during the ten months of the academic year, plus monthly deposits of R$250 into a savings account that can only be withdrawn at the end of the degree. In a four-year program, the amounts could reach R$38,000, with R$28,000 in stipends and R$10,000 in savings, not counting inflation adjustments. In return, according to the minister, students will have to stay in university and finish the degree on schedule.
Creating the benefit was a campaign promise by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party, PT), announced on October 13. At the time, the proposal envisaged serving about 1 million students a year at an estimated cost of R$4.6 billion, funded by the Oil Social Fund. Barchini did not confirm whether these estimates will be kept.
The minister justified the program by the change in the profile of university students: according to him, two-thirds of students at federal universities now come from public schools, the reverse of what happened two decades ago.