Government includes master's and doctoral students in FIES (Student Financing Fund).
The Ministry of Education has expanded the rules of the program aimed at financing higher education students; Minister Henrique Paim informed that the system will be open this week for private institutions to join and, subsequently, for students to join.
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The Ministry of Education has expanded the rules of FIES (Student Financing Fund), according to a decree published this Wednesday in the Official Gazette, now including master's and doctoral courses in the program aimed at financing higher education students.
Prior to the change, only professional master's degree programs, which emphasize studies and techniques directly aimed at achieving a high level of professional qualification, were eligible.
In a statement on the Ministry of Education's website, the Minister of Education, Henrique Paim, announced that the system will be opened this week for private institutions to join and, subsequently, for students to join.
The Ministry of Education predicts that the new FIES program will have 31,6 potential beneficiaries, enrolled in more than 600 stricto sensu postgraduate programs offered by approximately 170 private institutions.
The ministry emphasized that the FIES postgraduate program will not cover specialization courses (lato sensu), a category that includes MBAs, nor distance learning courses.
"Students already receiving scholarships from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) through the Support Program for Graduate Studies in Private Higher Education Institutions (Prosup) will not be eligible to apply for funding," said the Ministry of Education.
According to the Minister of Education, FIES currently has 1,6 million signed contracts. "Today, 40 percent of students enrolled in private higher education institutions are supported by Federal Government programs – FIES and ProUni (University for All Program)," said Paim.
(By Marcela Ayres)