The PEC-G Program

The Programa de Estudantes-Convênio de Graduação – PEC-G, officially created in 1965 by Decree 55613 and currently ruled by Decree 11923 of 15 February 2024, provides students from developing countries with which Brazil maintains educational, cultural or scientific and technological agreements the opportunity to pursue their undergraduate studies in Brazilian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

PEC-G is administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), through the Division of Educational Themes (DCE), and the Ministry of Education (MEC), in partnership with HEIs throughout the country.

To apply, the student must go to the Brazilian Embassy of one of the participating countries.

UFSC has already graduated more than 300 PEC-G students since the 1970s. Today, there is 82 PEC-G students regularly enrolled at UFSC’s undergraduate programs.

At UFSC, the program is administered by SINTER. For questions, contact us at pecg.sinter@contato.ufsc.br.

To learn more, go to the PEC-G official website. 

History of the PEC-G program

The idea of creating a Government Program to support students from other countries came from the increase in the number of foreigners in Brazil in the 1960s and from the consequences that this fact brought to the internal regulation of these students’ status in Brazil. There was a need to unify the student exchange conditions and to guarantee similar treatment to students by the universities. Thus, in 1965, the first PEC-G Protocol was launched. Currently, the Program is ruled by Decree n. 7948, published in 2013, which gives greater legal force to the PEC-G regulation.

Over the last decade, more than 6,000 students were selected for the Program. Most students came from Africa, mainly from Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Angola.

PEC-G – Selected students – Africa – 2000 to 2019

In Latin America, the largest participation is from Paraguayans, Peruvians, Ecuadorians, and Hondurans:

PEC-G – Selected students – Latin America and Caribbean – 2000 to 2019

In Asia, the Timorese are the most selected:

PEC-G – Selected Students – Asia – 2000 to 2019

Source: http://www.dce.mre.gov.br/PEC/G/historico/introducao.php

 

Participating Countries

Currently, there are 69 countries participating in the PEC-G: 28 from Africa, 25 from the Americas and 7 from Asia. The programs with the largest number of places offered are Language and Literature, Social Communication, Administration, Biological Sciences and Pedagogy.

Africa: 29 participating countries

  1. Algeria
  2. Angola
  3. Benin
  4. Botswana
  5. Burkina Faso
  6. Cameroon
  7. Cape Verde
  8. Congo Republic
  9. Democratic Republic of Congo
  10. Egypt
  11. Equatorial Guinea
  12. Ethiopia
  13. Gabon
  14. Ghana
  15. Guinea-Bissau
  16. Ivory Coast
  17. Kenya
  18. Mali
  19. Morocco
  20. Mozambique
  21. Namibia
  22. Nigeria
  23. Sao Tome and Principe
  24. Senegal
  25. South Africa
  26. Tanzania
  27. Togo
  28. Tunisia
  29. Zambia

Latin America and the Caribbean: 25 participating countries

  1. Antigua & Barbuda
  2. Argentina
  3. Barbados
  4. Bolivia
  5. Chile
  6. Colombia
  7. Costa Rica
  8. Cuba
  9. Dominican Republic
  10. Ecuador
  11. El Salvador
  12. Guatemala
  13. Guyana
  14. Haiti
  15. Honduras
  16. Jamaica
  17. Mexico
  18. Nicaragua
  19. Panama
  20. Paraguay
  21. Peru
  22. Suriname
  23. Trinidad & Tobago
  24. Uruguay
  25. Venezuela

Asia: 9 participating countries

  1. China
  2. East Timor
  3. India
  4. Iran
  5. Lebanon
  6. Pakistan
  7. South Korea
  8. Syria
  9. Thailand

Europe: 6 participating countries

  1. Armenia
  2. Bulgaria
  3. Hungary
  4. North Macedonia
  5. Poland
  6. Turkey

Source: http://www.dce.mre.gov.br/PEC/paises_participantes.php