ABSTRACT
This article aims to analyze educational policies of access to higher education, which were recently introduced in Brazil, in particular the Programa Universidade para Todos (Prouni) and its relations with rural youth, that is an economic disadvantage. The information used refers to the institutional data from the federal government and the reflections on rural youth, scholars, based in the Territory Centro-Serra, Rio Grande do Sul. The study identified that Prouni provided an opportunity to the rural youth attend higher education in private educational institutions, however, the majority of rural youth remains in a marginal condition in relation to their access to that educational policy, mainly by the cultural capital inherited from their peasant condition in which habits of reading, access to books and dedication to studies are in a duel with the work in the fields, a fundamental strategy to maintain social reproduction of rural families. Prouni is, to some extent, the universalization and democratization of access to higher education at the regional level, which provided professional qualification to a portion of the rural youth keeping their ties with the territory and strengthening the cultural capital. However, that educational policy is invisible to that social category and it is insufficient to provide broad access to the rural youth and youth in general who demand higher education levels.
Keywords:
IES; higher education; rural youth; educational policies