Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

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 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.

To learn more about the Program and the selection process, go to the PEC-G official website. 

UFSC has already graduated more than 300 PEC-G students since the 1970s.

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

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 74 countries participating in the PEC-G: 29 from Africa, 28 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 10 from Asia and 7 from Europe. 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: 28 participating countries

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

Asia: 10 participating countries

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

Europe: 7 participating countries

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

Source: https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/assuntos/cultura-e-educacao/temas-educacionais/programas-de-estudo-para-estrangeiros/pec-g/sobre