Business school scholarships in Brazil: how international students fund their studies

Scholarship, bolsa or tuition waiver: what the words mean

Brazilian higher education uses several terms that look interchangeable but are not.

A scholarship, or bolsa, is usually a monthly maintenance stipend meant to cover living costs. Public universities charge no tuition, so a public bolsa is pure living support. In the private sector, it can also reduce the fee.

A fellowship is generally reserved for postgraduate research or professional training, and often carries a teaching or project duty.

A research grant, or auxílio à pesquisa, funds a specific project. It covers materials, travel or equipment rather than your living costs.

A tuition waiver removes part or all of the academic fee, without paying you an allowance.

An institutional award is funding from the school itself, granted on merit or on social criteria.

A government programme is a national scheme, often built around a treaty with specific partner countries.

Set your expectations accordingly. Outside the fully funded public research stipends, most support for a business degree is partial. A realistic budget combines an award with savings, an employer contribution or family support.

The types of funding you can access

Funding for a business degree in Brazil falls into five broad categories.

• Institutional awards from the school, granted on merit, on academic results or, in hardship cases, on social criteria.
• Federal and state research stipends, paid by the public agencies to students in academic master's and doctoral programmes.
• Bilateral government programmes, which place students from partner countries through a treaty rather than a normal application.
• Private foundations and external fellowships, which sit outside both the school and the state.
• The divide between the public and private sectors, which decides which of the above you can realistically reach.

That last point matters more than students expect. The federal and state stipends are tied to free public universities and to research-oriented degrees. A professional Master's or an MBA rarely qualifies for them, because in Brazil it almost always means a private, fee-paying school. So if your plan is an English-taught business degree, build your budget around institutional awards and your own resources first. Treat the public schemes as a route only if you are heading into the public research system.

Government and federal funding routes in Brazil

The public sector runs the largest pool of money, through two federal agencies and a set of state foundations.

The Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) fund postgraduate study directly. Their standard monthly stipends are R$2,100 for an academic Master's and R$3,100 for a doctorate, with higher rates for postdoctoral work. Foreign students can hold these stipends. They need admission to a CAPES-accredited programme and a valid visa or residence permit. The key limit is the type of degree. These stipends are reserved for research Master's and doctorates, and do not apply to a professional Master's or an executive MBA.

Each state also runs its own research foundation. In Minas Gerais, FAPEMIG pays around R$3,000 a month at the master's level and R$4,500 at the doctoral level. In São Paulo, FAPESP pays more, starting at roughly R$3,270 at the master's level and rising from there. The federal rates are flat across the country, so the same stipend stretches further in a mid-sized city than in São Paulo. That is one reason a regional campus can be the more economical choice.

Two bilateral programmes place foreign students through government agreements. The Programa de Estudantes-Convênio de Graduação, or PEC-G, offers tuition-free undergraduate places to nationals of partner countries. Around 75 nations take part, across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Europe. It requires proof of Portuguese through the Celpe-Bras exam, the official Brazilian proficiency test, and students cover living costs. Its graduate counterpart, PEC-PG, runs with CAPES and CNPq. It adds a monthly stipend at the same R$2,100 and R$3,100 rates, a health allowance and a return air ticket on graduation.

One caveat saves a lot of wasted effort. The domestic schemes most students hear about first, ProUni and FIES, are closed to international applicants. ProUni is tied to the Brazilian national secondary exam and to domestic income thresholds. FIES, the federal student loan, bars foreign citizens from borrowing or acting as guarantors. Both are designed for Brazilian nationals and naturalised residents, so plan around the agency stipends and bilateral programmes instead.

GCUB-Mob and external scholarship programmes

The main scheme for studying at a Brazilian university on a scholarship is now the GCUB International Mobility Program, or GCUB-Mob. It is run by a consortium of Brazilian universities, and was formerly aligned with the Organization of American States under the PAEC name. Its 2026 call, number 001/2026, offered 539 Master's and 350 doctoral scholarships across 62 member universities, for studies beginning in 2027. Applications closed on 6 July 2026, so check the current call before you plan around these figures. The award covers full tuition and a monthly living stipend at the host institution. It does not cover airfare, visa fees or health insurance, which you finance yourself. Candidates choose programmes at three universities in three different regions, since places per university are limited and spreading your choices improves your odds. As with the federal stipends, this is a route into the member universities, not a way to fund a private business school.

Two private foundations matter for Brazilian nationals who want an internationally recognised business degree abroad. One funds Brazilian graduate students admitted to top global universities. Its awards can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, alongside relocation grants and subsidised loans. The other has supported outstanding Brazilians on full-time MBA and public administration programmes in the United States and Europe since 1995. It requires you to secure your place first. Bilateral schemes add to the picture, including Fulbright awards between the United States and Brazil, and Canada's Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program for short exchanges.

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How scholarships work at a business school in Brazil

The divide between the public and private sectors is what shapes funding at a business school. So weigh an offer on its own terms, rather than against a public-university stipend you cannot claim. Look at accreditation, the international standing of the degree, the language of instruction and the share of the fee an award actually covers, rather than at any ranking.

Across the private sector, the logic is broadly the same. The school's own awards are the main source of help; they are usually partial, and they are decided programme by programme. The public stipend rates quoted above are a useful yardstick: if an institutional award covers a comparable amount, it is doing real work on your budget.

SKEMA is one worked example of the private, English-taught model on Brazilian soil. Its Belo Horizonte campus opened in 2021 in the Savassi district and teaches a multinational cohort. You can take an undergraduate Global Business specialisation there in English while learning Portuguese. You can also join a two-year MSc that runs across several campuses. The same multi-campus structure lets a Brazilian student build part of a Master in Management or a specialised MSc programme in France. French government awards such as the Eiffel scholarship and the Campus France Brazil grants then come into play.

The funding itself works as a safety net rather than a primary source. SKEMA's financial support and scholarships are aimed at students facing an emergency or unforeseen hardship. They can be awarded only once during a degree. They also set conditions, such as a grade point average of 2.3 out of 4, the equivalent of 13 out of 20, alongside strong attendance. Some of the social-criteria awards are based on the French CROUS system, the state student grant scheme in France, so they mainly help students already inside it.

The realistic route at a private school in Brazil is therefore a merit-based institutional award, combined with your own or an employer's resources. The practical move is to ask the admissions team which awards attach to your specific programme before you apply.

Can you study business in Brazil for free?

For tuition, often yes, but only in the public sector. Brazil's federal and state universities charge no tuition fees, and admitted international students are generally treated the same as nationals on that point.

Three conditions come with it. Teaching is mostly in Portuguese, so you need the Celpe-Bras certificate. Places are scarce and selective, won through a competitive entrance process. And most MBAs and specialised business schools sit in the private, fee-paying sector, outside the free system entirely.

Free tuition also leaves your living costs untouched, which is where a stipend or scholarship makes the real difference. Those costs vary sharply by city. A comfortable monthly budget in Belo Horizonte runs to roughly R$6,000 to R$7,500, around US$1,100 to US$1,400. In central São Paulo, the same standard of living costs R$11,000 to R$14,000.

Eligibility and how to apply, step by step

The mechanics reward students who secure admission first and treat the scholarship as a separate task. For most institutions, the host school must issue an official letter of acceptance, the carta de aceite, before you can apply for a visa or external funding. The exception is the bilateral programmes, PEC-G and PEC-PG. There, your place and your award are arranged together through a Brazilian consulate in your home country.

Eligibility varies by level and by scheme:

• Admission to a programme, since many awards are reviewed only once you hold an offer.
• An academic record strong enough for the award, and a completed prior degree for postgraduate study.
• Nationality or country of residence for the bilateral and consortium schemes, which are only open to listed partner nations.
• Language proof: the Celpe-Bras certificate for Portuguese-taught courses, or a test such as TOEFL iBT 71 or IELTS 6.0 for English-taught ones.
• Professional experience for an MBA or a specialised MSc, where a few months in a relevant role is often expected.
• A research proposal for the CAPES, CNPq and PEC-PG research tracks. These also ask for a Lattes CV, the standard Brazilian academic profile, and an ORCID researcher identifier.

From there, the sequence is straightforward:

1. Choose your programme and campus, and read its funding page so you know which awards apply.
2. Check eligibility and the deadline for each award. The consortium and government schemes have fixed dates, while school awards may run on rolling admission.
3. Prepare both files in parallel: the admission application and, where required, the scholarship application, with transcripts, a CV, essays, references and financial documents.
4. Apply early. Fixed-date schemes close months ahead, and a private school's intake fills as it goes.
5. Prepare for an interview if the award requires one, and line up your proof of funds for the visa stage.

SKEMA's support for international students covers the admission and visa steps alongside funding. When you are ready, start your application and raise scholarship options in the same conversation.

Visa, language and the real cost of studying in Brazil

A scholarship is only worth what it covers against your total cost, so size it against the full picture. Beyond tuition, where it applies, you budget for accommodation, health cover, transport and the costs of the visa itself.

All students need a temporary student visa, the VITEM IV. You apply through the gov.br consular platform and finalise it at the Brazilian consulate for your region. It requires the carta de aceite, a valid passport, an apostilled birth certificate, a clean criminal record certificate and proof of private health insurance covering your whole stay. You also show proof of funds, with consulates asking for at least R$2,000 for each month of stay, independent of tuition.

The visa is only the first step. Within 90 days of arrival, you register in person with the Federal Police to obtain your migration card. You also apply for a CPF tax number, which you need to open a bank account, sign a lease or take out a phone contract. If you miss the police registration window, you face daily fines, so treat both as immediate tasks once you land.

Language settles much of this. The free public route runs in Portuguese and expects the Celpe-Bras certificate, while the English-taught option sits mostly in the private sector. Decide early which one fits you, because it changes both your funding options and how you prepare.