The University for All Program (ProUni): progress in the democratization of higher education in Brazil

Abstract

The 1990s democratization of basic education in Brazil increased the demand for undergraduate programs. However, there were no public policies for access and permanence in universities for the low-income population. The University for All Program was implemented to attend this population, using new forms of participation of private actors in the implementation of public policies. The article shows the profile of ProUni's scholarship holders, identifying how this public policy contributes to the democratization of higher education. The open data information from the Brazilian Ministry of Education was quantified to show how the program's target audience benefits, based on enrollments between 2014 and 2020. The results show that the program is effective for the access of the target audience, since more than 60% of the scholarships are granted to people with family income between zero and one and a half times the minimum salary, more than 55% of the scholarship holders are black, brown and indigenous, about 0.70% of the scholarship holders have disabilities, and women are the majority among the scholarship holders. The survey shows that there are regional differences, with more satisfactory results in the less developed regions