With only 58% of vacancies filled in the 1st round of applications, Portugal’s polytechnics and universities are facing a serious lack of students.
The government is acting fast by offering additional grants to fund students who want to go to a university or polytechnic outside the major popular urban centres of Lisbon, Faro, Coimbra and Oporto.
The Superior + programme offers scholarships of €1,500 a year to the first 1,000 qualifying students applying to one of 12 selected higher education institutions that are having difficulty in filling courses.
According to the government this ‘mobility grant’ aims to contribute to "the territorial cohesion and the establishment of qualified young people within the country," political speak for “we desperately need students at less popular universities, but no one is applying.”
The universities of Beira Interior, Évora, Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro, and the Polytechnics of Beja, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Guarda, Portalegre, Santarém, Tomar, Viana do Castelo and Viseu have been selected for the programme as the number of students applying for courses has dropped to the extent that many courses will have only a handful of students, if any.
The government has opened up the Superior + grant scheme to students from other EU countries who are resident in Portugal, but students that already live in the interior of the country may not receive the grant.
None of the above applies to the University of the Algarve which has seen a record number of application this year, such is its popularity under the tireless new rector António Branco who has been publicising the university across the region since his appointment.
The University of Algarve has received 14% more candidates, the largest increase in the higher education institutions in the country.
