[{"jcr:title":"Insper restructures its Scholarship Program and expands access to higher education","jcr:description":"Programa de Bolsas do Insper passa por reformulação, trazendo o fim da restituição das bolsas parciais e novos critérios para concessão.","cq:tags_0":"tipos-de-conteudo:acontece-no-insper","cq:tags_1":"tipos-de-conteudo:acontece-no-insper/programa-de-bolsas"},{"richText":"The main change is the elimination of repayment requirements for partial scholarships, which now take effect alongside new eligibility criteria","authorDate":"13/02/2026 15h00","madeBy":"Por","tag":"tipos-de-conteudo:acontece-no-insper/programa-de-bolsas","title":"Insper restructures its Scholarship Program and expands access to higher education","variant":"imagecolor"},{"jcr:title":"rosa / vermelho / turquesa"},{"themeName":"rosa / vermelho / verde"},{"containerType":"containerTwo"},{"jcr:title":"Grid Container Section","layout":"responsiveGrid"},{"text":"In August 2025, Insper announced a comprehensive restructuring of its Scholarship Program , with the goal of expanding access for talented students regardless of their socioeconomic background. The changes eliminate the mandatory repayment requirement for partial scholarships and expand the benefits offered to full scholarship recipients. The primary update, effective as of August, is the end of mandatory repayment for partial scholarships. Students with a monthly family income between two and 4.5 minimum wages per capita may receive scholarships covering 50% or 75% of enrollment and tuition costs, without the obligation to repay the amounts after graduation. The new model replaces the previous scholarships, which ranged from 30% to 80% of tuition, now standardized at two levels. The decision benefits both current students — who will have their outstanding balances forgiven — and alumni who were still in the repayment process, provided they had received scholarships of 50% or more. Under the previous model, students had a one-year grace period after completing their undergraduate programme, followed by repayment over a period equivalent to twice the length of the programme. “We revised the model precisely to open Insper’s doors to more students with strong academic potential,” explains Camila Du Plessis, Executive Manager of Institutional Relations. According to her, many qualified applicants chose not to apply due to the future repayment requirement. The strategy mirrors what occurred in 2012, when full scholarships ceased to require repayment and demand increased significantly. Currently, 83.4% of Insper scholarship recipients receive full support. There are 416 scholarship students in total, 346 with full scholarships and 70 with partial scholarships. More support for full scholarship recipients Students who receive full tuition coverage will also gain access to additional benefits. Full scholarships are aimed at students with a per capita family income of up to two minimum wages and, in addition to tuition exemption, recipients receive benefits such as housing assistance, a living stipend for basic expenses, a laptop, English courses, and an international exchange opportunity. Housing assistance, previously restricted to students from other states and cities, now also includes those living in the metropolitan region who face significant mobility challenges within the city itself. Currently, scholarship recipients represent 10% of the undergraduate student body, and Insper’s goal is to double this percentage to 20% in the coming years. The institution has received additional funding that will allow it to support at least ten new partial scholarship recipients, with a fundraising target of R$ 20 million for 2025. Two decades of social transformation Created in 2004, the Scholarship Program has already benefited more than 1,000 young people from all regions of Brazil. The results demonstrate the initiative’s impact: 95% of the more than 530 scholarship alumni are employed, and 40% are founders, partners, or hold leadership positions in their organizations. Currently, 416 students participate in the program. The profile of scholarship recipients reflects the diversity the institution seeks to promote: 37% of full scholarship recipients identify as Black or mixed race (68% men and 32% women); 171 scholarship recipients came from outside the State of São Paulo, and current recipients represent 26 Brazilian states; 43% of Black, mixed-race, and Indigenous scholarship recipients were the first in their families to attend higher education; 54% of Black, mixed-race, and Indigenous scholarship recipients reported that their enrollment in undergraduate studies encouraged other family members to pursue higher education; 83% of Black scholarship recipients did not own a computer before receiving support. These data are based on an internal survey conducted with part of the student body. Donations make the program possible For Guilherme Martins, President of Insper, the changes reinforce the institution’s mission. “Initiatives like this reflect our mission to transform society through excellence in education and applied research, ensuring that talented young people have access to the best opportunities, without income being a barrier,” he emphasizes. As a non-profit institution, Insper depends on donors to sustain the program. Funding comes from individual and corporate donations, as well as the allocation of 5% of the undergraduate programme surplus. In 2024, alumni accounted for 7% of total donations. With the elimination of repayment for partial scholarships — which previously accounted for 9% of the Scholarship Fund’s revenue — community support through donations becomes even more essential to the initiative’s sustainability. The institution has launched a campaign encouraging former partial scholarship recipients to become voluntary donors."}]