A total of 5,000 scholarships are to be offered to outstanding young people in Paraguay through the National Scholarship Program, with some changes to last year’s program in order to broaden the scope to the most vulnerable sectors. The Deputy Minister of Education, Federico Mora, outlined the changes at the launch ceremony of the 2025 National Scholarship Program in Mburuvicha Róga.
The National Scholarship Program is unified system that encompasses the study scholarships previously offered independently by Itaipu, Yacyretá, the National Youth Secretariat (SNJ) and the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC).
Overview of the changes to the National Scholarship Program
These are 5,000 scholarships available in total, of which 4,500 are for university careers and teacher training, while the remaining 500 places correspond to technologies in order to strengthen the middle management.
One of the changes is that 1,000 of the scholarships will be reserved for students from one of the 22 districts prioritised by the Social Protection Table, while the remaining 4,000 scholarships will be distributed across all the other areas of the country.
“This was a very precise indication of the president seeking to have priority over young people in these 22 districts where supporting higher education has a double impact,”, said the Deputy Minister.
Another change is related to the year of completion of secondary education. For 2025, scholarships for undergraduate degrees, higher technologies and teacher training are intended for graduates of secondary education from subsidised public, private and private institutions throughout the territory of the Republic of Paraguay, who completed their high school studies in the years 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
“For teacher training and technical careers, knowing that they have a different profile, we will have the cohorts from the last 10 years, that is, those who graduated from 2014 to 2024. With this we seek to broaden the scope and arrival of these study proposals ”, he commented.
Increase in disbursements from the National Scholarship Program
It was also announced that the amount that the scholarship recipients will receive, which is ordinarily Gs 6 million (USD 767), will be increased to Gs 10 million (USD 1,280), for the designated priority knowledge areas which are listed as natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, and teacher training.
“It is a substantial leap in the path that we are putting together,” said the Deputy Minister.
New requirements in relation to the National Scholarship Program
A new requirement is that all participating universities must have at least one degree accredited by the National Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education (Aneaes). “Not only the habilitation, we go to the educational quality, so also to the accreditation by the universities that offer careers for these scholarships,” he added.
Mora spoke of a much more inclusive process by 2025. “We have decided to provide a 10 percent score to students who come from public management institutions, that is, also to make an award for the effort, trajectory and training route that the young person had been developing,” he said.
He also confirmed that the National Scholarship Program can be combined with other external help, for example if a young man has a scholarship from the Government of Paraguay, he will also be able to apply for extra support, such as transportation and food, provided by the governments and municipalities.
A new tiebreaker to decide between multiple applicants given the same score has also been confirmed, with priority now given to young people who have completed their studies in public institutions and who have been awarded scholarships at the intermediate level, due to their vulnerable condition.
“We are going to open the possibility of examining the following scores with two criteria, on the one hand again the 22 prioritised districts of the country and, on the other hand, those who have chosen to pursue a career in areas of study which are deemed a prioroty,” Mora added.
The National Scholarship Program expands opportunity for studies
The Minister of Youth, Salma Agüero, stressed that the objective of the Paraguayan Government’s National Scholarship Program is to expand study opportunities for Paraguayan youth throughout the country and to prioritise quality standards in education.
“From this new call, the fellows will receive not 6 million guaraníes but 10 million guaraníes, in response to the work tables we had with young people who expect a more adequate scholarship system according to the challenges of higher education students,” he said.
New evaluation centres for the National Scholarship Program
The National Scholarship Program has also added evaluation centers to applicants in Caacupé, Caazapá, Paraguarí and Pedro Juan Caballero. In this way, these headquarters are integrated into the network that includes Ciudad del Este, Concepción, Coronel Oviedo, Encarnación, Neuland, Pilar, Salto del Guairá, San Ignacio Misiones, San Lorenzo, Santa Rosa del Aguaray, Villa Hayes and Villarrica, forming 16 points in the country.
“We are prioritising districts where we want to join efforts to overcome these social gaps and thus decrease the rates of poverty and extreme poverty in those places,” added the Minister for Youth.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña said that the National Scholarship Program “seeks to promote the development of the entire community. A young man from a vulnerable community who has the opportunity to study is a young man who helps his community progress,” he said.
“This program aims to transform the lives of our young people. Higher education represents personal and family progress and allows young people to be builders of a developed country. Through joint work with cooperating institutions we are implementing our educational public policy. These scholarships, in addition to being an economic incentive, constitute recognition for young people who strive,” said the President.
Those interested in the 2025 call can apply from today through the official website of the Paraguayan National Scholarship Program.
