Half of govt university scholarship beneficiaries are blacks

Half of the beneficiaries of the University for All (ProUni) scholarship program are blacks, reported the Ministry of Education's Secretary for Higher Education, Paulo Speller.

The federal program is at its tenth anniversary, offering fee subsidies for tuition in private universities to students with household incomes no higher than $490 per capita. In total, 1.27 million scholarships have been awarded, and 400,000 of the program participants have completed their undergraduate studies. Thus, Speller believes that the program is fulfilling its role of social inclusion.

However, while 50.7% of Brazilians are of African ancestry, only 187,000 blacks and 746,000 mulattoes go to universities, accounting for as little as 13.3% of the total 7 million university students. Most of them study at private universities, which offer more evening programs – a mandatory choice for students who work during the day.

According to History professor Douglas Belchior, the proportion of blacks who make it to university education is increasing, but they still have to put up a historical battle to have access to the public universities. In Brazil, public education is provided free of charge, whereas private schools and universities are mostly paid. However, access to higher education at public universities is limited, because students have to pass entry exams with high academic requirements, while the level of education at public schools has become historically lower over the years.

“What they are really fighting for is quality public education, so that in the future, affirmative action programs like university quotas for blacks and government grants to study in paid universities will no longer be necessary,” Belchior said.

Translated by Mayra Borges