Students in higher education are finding it increasingly difficult to get a social work case. The changes made in how household incomes are recorded made it necessary today to be almost twice poorer than in 2010 to receive the minimum scholarship that supports the cost of tuition. The findings are from a study of Porto Academic Federation (FAP), which is presented this Wednesday.
In the last academic year, there were 67,888 students with scholarships in higher education, which means that were less supported 4600 students compared to 2010/2011. In this school year, it has changed the way it accounted for the household budgets of the money for the calculation of the grant, which explains this decrease. Until then were the net income considered, there still ways to rebates for expenditure on health in case of chronic or prolonged illness, as well as expenses for lease or purchase of housing, for example. Currently, these deductions have disappeared and are taken into account gross income.
In other words, today the Social Services of universities and polytechnics take into account a financial reality of very different families of which was analyzed for five years, which explains changes in economic hardship level a student must have to be supported. The level of poverty required to assign scholarship to a student is now “much more severe than it was in the past to receive the same support,” concludes the study of FAP. In practice, the student who, by 2010, received the minimum bag had “almost double the income that it now receives” the same support, adds to the PUBLIC the president of that structure, Daniel Freitas.
This conclusion “gives strength,” says the same official, the main claim that students in higher education have been submitted for the review of the scholarship award Regulation: the calculation should again be made based on the net income of families . “It would be the closest solution to the reality of the family economy, since it reflects the actual available aggregate income,” argues the president of FAP.
The change in the form of income accounting is the same factor more impact on the variation in the number of higher education students can have access to scholarships. Even if they have changed the rules, the minimum level of economic disadvantage in nominal terms has remained stable since 2010, always slightly below the 7000 annual euros per capita of income for household members. In the current academic year, there was the biggest upgrade in recent years this figure which rose to 7770 euros, which led to an increase of 12,000 scholarship students. so it is still considered “insufficient” for the FAP.
The work of the center of studies of the associative structure of Porto analyzes data on the allocation of scholarships during the last two decades. The document is presented this Wednesday, at the Polytechnic Institute of Porto – a ceremony attended by the Higher Education Secretary of State of the previous Government, José Ferreira Gomes. According to Daniel Freitas, the work done in recent months shows that the scholarship award scheme is now “more demanding”.
In addition to changing the accounting rules of the household income, the other big change that It made it more difficult access to the bag was the minimum school performance criteria a student must meet to continue to be supported in the next year. Between 1997 and 2010, students had to be approved by 40% of the subjects that were enrolled, but this level increased, first to 50% currently setting up 60%. The FAP considers, however, that the greatest demand in this field “makes sense.”
The report also paints a picture of the population who receive scholarships in higher education. Institutions located outside the major urban areas are those that have the highest percentage of fellows. Within these, are also particularly important polytechnics. In 2013/2014, last academic year for which there are these data, 16.8% of university students had scholarships, but only accounted for the polytechnic sector, this percentage amounts to 22.5% of subscribers. “These data confirm the perception that the polytechnic network absorbs students with higher economic needs,” stresses the study of FAP. The exceptions are the Nursing School of Porto and the University of Minho who, despite being in urban areas, recruit many students from all over the north of the country, including many disadvantaged backgrounds in socio-economic terms.
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