This study analyses the integration of the students benefited from the University for All Program (ProUni) into the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). The ProUni is sponsored by the brazilian government and has the goal of expanding the access of low-income population to higher education in Brazil. The research sample included freshmen from 2005 to 2010 of three courses of PUC-Rio. The socio-economic profile of these students and the main difficulties and incentives to stay in the university were outlined from questionnaires and interviews. The results indicate that the program acted as a positive mechanism for the inclusion in the university of groups historically excluded from higher education, although stresses the importance of mechanisms to ensure the graduation of the benefited population.
affirmative action; higher education; University for All Program