Políticas públicas e mobilidade social: egressos do Programa Universidade para todos (PROUNI)

Education has proved to be an important tool for social transformation. From this understanding, public policies for access to higher education have been developed in Brazil with the aim of promoting social equality. The University for All Program (PROUNI) is aimed at students with a family income of up to  three minimum salaries and reaches an increasing number of students. This study aimed to ascertain the rise of these students benefited by PROUNI, involving three dimensions: professional, economic and personal satisfaction. For this purpose, 1,200 students from a private university who were benefited  by PROUNI were contacted. The questionnaires were sent by e-mail and 212 responses were obtained. The analysis was performed using descriptive and relational statistics. The results indicate that university graduation through PROUNI provided upward social mobility. Most interviewees stated that they have made improvements in their lives, both in personal, professional and economic aspects. What stands out the importance of the  existence of public policies focused on access to education.