- Funding Programme
- Year
- 2023
Making higher education in Portugal more inclusive
The Portuguese authorities – the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES) (subsequently the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI)) and the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES) – requested technical support from the European Union’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI) to investigate the challenges and possible responses related to widening access and increasing higher education completion among young people from low-income backgrounds in Portugal. The project has enabled the beneficiary authorities to address these challenges and to promote greater social inclusion through reform of the higher education access system and programmes enhancing completion rates in higher education.
Context
In Portugal, students from socio-economically disadvantaged households are clearly underrepresented in higher education compared to their share in the overall population.
They are not only less likely to enrol, but also to graduate, particularly in the most competitive higher education institutions. Their chances vary across regions. More need to be done to foster their enrolment, as well as to support their successful graduation, in line with the EU strategy for a European education area. Low entry rates among disadvantaged young populations may be affected by financial barriers, complex pathways and admissions routes, a lack of awareness about the opportunities afforded by higher education, and/or low levels of aspiration.
Support delivered
The support project (2023-2025) has enabled the Portuguese authorities to design and implement an action plan, including possible legislative and non-legislative measures, aiming to increase access to and completion of higher education for socio-economically disadvantaged groups, including in competitive study programmes. Based on an analysis of the situation in different regions of Portugal and on other OECD and EU Member states’ good practice, the project outputs have provided the Directorate General for Higher Education (DGES) with a methodology for tracking the educational progress of students, as well as a clear roadmap on how to pilot the package of reforms and to monitor and evaluate the results of this piloting.
Results achieved
Portuguese authorities have been enabled to reform access and completion policies in higher education in Portugal to promote greater social inclusion. The project has helped the ministry (MECI) better calibrate national policies on higher education entry routes, strengthen diverse access routes to higher education, and provide students more effectively with early information, financial support with grants adjusted to real costs of live and study support based on academic progression forecast.
In the long term, young people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds are expected to be better represented among higher education students, students in competitive programme and graduates across Portugal.
Useful links
Directorate-General for higher education in Portugal
More about the project
You can read the documents related to the project here: