TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION: For-profits in Brazil fight rule change

Career College Central Summary:

Higher education companies in Brazil are lobbying the government to rescind new rules on financial aid that they fear will stop students enrolling on private courses.
A federal decree that was quietly published during the Christmas period tightened the criteria for the Student Financing Fund (FIES), one of the federal government’s two key initiatives to support individuals to study at private providers. Students may no longer benefit from both FIES funding, which involves low-interest loans, and the Ministry of Education’s University for All (ProUni) scheme, which provides scholarships. The ministry also set a minimum score on Enem, the national high school exam required for many university applications.
The sector was surprised by the changes, which are expected to reduce the number of individuals able to study at for-profit institutions, and they promptly caused a dive in the market value of Brazil’s biggest higher education companies.
When the decree was published, the share price of Kroton Educacional, which has 125 higher education institutions across 83 Brazilian cities and a total enrolment of more than a million students, fell from R16.62 (£4.30) to a low of R12.22 (£3.16).

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