This article aims a comprehensive analysis of the National Plan for Student Assistance (PNAES), bringing to the fore different epistemological perspectives, positioning such a program in the context of the various actions of the Brazilian developmental social model that was in force between 2003-2016. Assuming an interpretative methodological approach, the PNAES can be discussed under different epistemologies: positivism, utilitarianism that emerges, functionalism, systemism, dialectics and complexity, which allows us to enter a growing episteme. This article also reflects the management experience of the study authors in the field of Student Assistance, as well as their researcher conditions in three federal public universities. The study considers the need for dialectical epistemology for the improvement of the PNAES, even though it has finally found that, in the current conjuncture, there is greater identification with the epistemology of complexity.
Key words:
Evaluation; PNAES; Epistemology; Assistance; Student