Out of college, ex-students struggle to pay Fies debt

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The search for administrative assistant Evenise Castro, 28, for a higher education diploma ended in frustration and with a debt of R$ 67,000. A resident of Pelotas, in Rio Grande do Sul, she financed her law course at a private institution in the hope of a promotion in the company.

With just over a year to go before college, she had her Fies (Student Financing) contract canceled due to a problem with the mandatory renewal process. She even tried to continue the course in the private module, but had to give up her diploma when the price of tuition weighed too much. “It increased by R$ 500 from one semester to the next and I couldn’t keep it”.

After the 18-month grace period until the amortization of the financing agreement began, she still had not recovered financially. Without a degree and unable to pay the financing installments, she was in default.

Like her, thousands of Brazilian students who went to college with the intention of conquering better opportunities in the job market are in debt with financing. According to the FNDE (National Fund for the Development of Education), 1,093,053 Fies contracts are in arrears in the payment of installments.

To reduce the number of defaulters, the federal government launched a renegotiation campaign that offers debt relief of up to 99%. The agreement can be made at Caixa Econômica Federal or at Banco do Brasil.

Students who contracted the financing until the second half of 2017 and who have installments overdue for more than 90 days on December 30, 2021 can request renegotiation. According to the FNDE, currently 891,355 contracts meet these conditions.

Also according to the FNDE, 780,487 students are up to date with their monthly fees. This group can also participate in the negotiation to settle the outstanding balance, in a single installment, with a 12% discount on the remaining amount of the contract.

The expectation of negotiating the debt and clearing the name encouraged Evenise until the moment of doing the simulations. The conditions available were to pay 15 installments of R$ 1,029.19 or in up to 150 installments of R$ 728.37. In both cases, the charge is adjusted monthly by the Selic.

“I was hoping to negotiate now, because I need my name clean. But the value has become completely unfeasible. I have to choose whether to finish the course, pay the Fies or keep the money to live.”

Graduated in physiotherapy in 2018, Pedro Paulo do Nascimento, 29, was waiting for the negotiation period to try to pay off the almost 15-year contract he has with Fies. Since the amortization period began in 2020, he has been able to keep up with payments.

“By leaps and bounds I can pay. I can’t delay because otherwise the one who suffers the consequences is my guarantor”.

Born in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Nascimento moved to Rosario, Argentina, where he is studying medicine. The discharge of the contract would significantly alleviate expenses, as Fies consumes almost half of his living expenses in Argentina.

As it is up to date with the financing, the only proposal available would be to pay off the debt in cash at a 12% discount.

“I thought it was absurd. Where will a newly graduated student get R$ 70,000 for a cash payment”.

When she turned to Fies to study psychology in 2012, Cínthia Pereira da Silva, 30, thought she would already be stabilized in the area when the financing installments began to mature.

But when she got her degree in 2016, she realized that things weren’t going to turn out quite the way she imagined. “The job market is very competitive and graduation alone was not enough to get a job”.

A resident of São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Cínthia managed to keep the payment until 2020, but then had to give up the installments to go in search of specialization. Unable to make ends meet, she saw the debt snowball.

At the beginning of this year, when the government opened a period for renegotiating the Fies, it reached an agreement to pay the debt in ten installments and with an 86% discount on the total amount. “It was a long time of suffocation, but now it’s been a relief because my name is no longer negative”.

Renegotiation gives discount of up to 99%

Paula Rodrigues Ferreira, 26, had just finished high school when she decided to go to law school at a private institution in 2014. Even though she wasn’t sure if that was what she wanted, she turned to student finance.

“It was kind of on impulse. I was doing an internship at a company that gave job opportunities to those who were in college and I decided to enter”.

In the second year of graduation, a resident of Rolândia, Paraná, she realized that it was not what she wanted and closed her enrollment. Around the same time, she lost her job and moved to another city.

When the contracted amortization phase ended, it was no longer able to pay the bill. “I was desperate. I didn’t even have the courage to go after it. I was afraid just to find out how much I owed.”

It took five years of trying to ignore the debt, until Paula decided to stop running away from the situation. She joined a group on social networks that brings together students interested in sharing stories and asking questions about Fies. That’s when she learned about the opening of the renegotiation period.

“I had to go to the bank because I no longer had access to the app”. The total debt was R$ 14.8 thousand. Until the surprise came, because she was registered with CadÚnico and received Emergency Aid in 2021, she was entitled to receive a 99% discount on cash payment.

The amount to pay off the debt dropped to R$ 149. “I paid immediately, because I was afraid they would withdraw the proposal”. “I was very relieved, because I took a lot of weight off my back. But if I went to college again, I wouldn’t finance it.”

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