Students across the country are facing difficulties accessing higher education due to recent readjustments in tuition fees for higher education courses at private institutions.
This has been one of the main obstacles that prevent young Brazilians from achieving the much dreamed diploma.
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Challenges for students
According to a study carried out by Quero Educação, the average monthly fee in educational institutions is BRL 722, while, in general, students can only pay BRL 500 per month.
This means that 68% of students seeking a higher education cannot afford the costs encountered.
The study used data from the Quero Bolsa platform, which offers scholarships between 5% and 80% in private institutions.
Currently, the benefit covers only 10% of enrollments, even with more than 1,300 institutions offering scholarships through the program.
At the beginning of the year, monthly fees charged by the largest institutions were around BRL 530, while students sought courses with average monthly fees of BRL 526.
However, with the drop in purchasing power, students began to seek courses for around R$495, while the average monthly fee offered on the platform rose to R$722.
The markup is 45% above what students are looking for. This situation resulted in a decrease in the number of students served, which dropped from 63% to 32%.
What is causing the increases?
Marcelo Lima, director of Quero Educação, warns that many students are being excluded, which can result in empty classrooms, as colleges will not be able to fill all vacancies.
In addition, Marcelo points out that discounts on tuition fees and scholarships are more advantageous options than financing. After all, they allow students to graduate without accumulating debt.
The representative entities of higher education recognize the financial difficulties of students, but defend the readjustments as necessary.
According to them, maintenance costs such as electricity, rent and wages have also risen. In addition, most institutions would not have readjusted prices since the pandemic.
Given this scenario, dialogue between representative entities, educational institutions and students is essential to find viable and inclusive alternatives that meet the needs of all those involved and contribute to development from the country.
Measures such as expanding the Student Financing Fund(FIES) and the search for greater efficiency in the management of institutions can be considered to face this challenge.