ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1585694
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrative Perspectives on the Student-Athlete Experience: A Multi-Disciplinary FocusView all 4 articles
Athletes entering higher education at Brazilian federal universities
Provisionally accepted
Junior Vagner Pereira Silva1*
Ricardo Teixeira Quinaud2
Guilherme Alves Grubertt3
Felipe Rodrigues Costa4António José Barata Figueiredo5- 1Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil
- 2University of the Extreme South of Santa Catarina, Criciuma, Santa Catarina, Brazil
- 3Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Mato Grosso do Sul (IFMS), Nova Andradina, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
- 4University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil
- 5University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
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The aim of the study was to investigate the existence of specific programs for athletes to enter higher education and their organizational structure. This is a qualitative-quantitative, cross-sectional, exploratory and documentary study, with content analysis. 68 Brazilian federal universities took part in the study. After completing the first stage of the research, it was possible to identify that only two higher education institutions (the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul and the Federal University of Santa Maria) had specific public notices in 2023 for the admission of athletes to higher education. These institutions, therefore, constitute the object of analysis of this investigation. The Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul made 103 places available to athletes who won first, second or third place in regional, national or international competitions between 2021-2023, with no age or score limits, covering 46 sports, 65.21% of which are part of the Brazilian University Games and 63.04% of which are part of the Olympic Games. All paralympic sports are covered. Of the places on offer, 29.12% were sought after and 53.33% of applicants were admitted to higher education. At the Federal University of Santa Maria has allocated 66 places for junior athletes (16 to 23 years old) in futsal, handball, volleyball and athletics. For former athletes, there was no restriction on the number of sports. For the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, the ratio of enrolled athletes to places was 0.29, and the ratio of admitted athletes to places was 0.15. The ratio in the Federal University of Santa Maria enrolled athletes to places was 0.59, and the ratio of admitted athletes to places was 0.12. The conclusion is that the programs promoted are important initiatives but have limitations that need to be remedied.
Keywords: Athletes, higher education, Admission, University athletes, Dual career
Received: 01 Mar 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Silva, Quinaud, Grubertt, Costa and Figueiredo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Junior Vagner Pereira Silva, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil
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