How does FIES work and what are the requirements?

Understanding how FIES works is the first step to participating and also finding out if you are entitled to this benefit.

What is FIES?

Before understanding how FIES works, let's understand what it is!

FIES, or Student Financing Fund, is a Federal Government program designed to provide access to private universities, which often end up being expensive.

Therefore, this program gives students who are unable to pay the monthly fee the opportunity to enroll in a private higher education university.

They provide financing, in which the government pays the installments of your monthly fee, but after the course ends the student will have to pay it back.

In some situations, the student may pay a very low interest rate throughout the course, while in other cases the interest may be zero.

What are the requirements?

Registration for FIES takes place every six months, thus twice a year. And in each selection process, candidates' documents are analyzed to see who will get the financing.

But there are some requirements for this, mainly due to the fact that the monthly fee and the student's financial condition are always taken into account.

And to be able to participate, the person must have completed high school, have taken the ENEM from 2010 onwards with a performance of at least 450 points in terms of the test average, in addition to having more than zero in the essay.

Furthermore, to enroll the student must have a monthly family income of up to 3 minimum wages per person.

And it is also worth remembering that Fies is only valid for face-to-face courses, and does not apply to distance learning.

How it works?

Students interested in financing must register for the FIES selection process, which is carried out during specific periods announced by the Ministry of Education (MEC).

After registering, candidates are selected based on criteria such as the score obtained in the Enem and family income per person. Those selected will receive a cut-off score, which is the minimum score required to obtain financing.

Selected students must go to the higher education institution for which they were approved and contract the financing with the financial agent.

At this point, the financing contract is established with all relevant conditions and information, including whether it will bear interest or not.

And during the course, if you have 50% financed you will have to pay half of the monthly fees, otherwise don't worry during your graduation.

But even with 100%, the student will still need to pay an amount relating to charges that are agreed in the contract.

And payment only happens after you graduate, and soon after, students will have 14 years to pay off their entire FIES debt.

And to make it easier, when you get your first job After graduation, the value of the installments will be deducted directly from the source.

This is done so that you don't have to worry about paying the monthly fees, focusing on your study and professional development during the course.