Public budgeting and university student assistance in times of austerity: challenges and alternatives

This article aims to contribute to the study of the limitations of university student assistance from the perspective of the Brazilian public budget. To this end, we conducted a bibliographic review of theoretical contributions from the fields of financial law, constitutional law, education, public finance, social work, and history. Methodologically, we adopted an interdisciplinary approach to provide a comprehensive understanding of the roots and implications of the issue. We begin by examining the historical emergence of student assistance in Brazil, the role of the student movement in shaping and advancing such policies, and the broader Brazilian socioeconomic context, particularly following the administration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The central problem lies in the insufficient coverage of student assistance for all students targeted by Decree No. 7,234/2010, which regulates the PNAES. This analysis considers the Brazilian economic context and concludes that participatory budgeting, the transformation of PNAES into federal law encompassing both public and private universities, and the establishment of councils for the collective development of student assistance policies within universities represent viable alternatives to improve student assistance in Brazilian higher education.