Researchers analyzed three official documents from the Pró-Atleta 2025 process: the consolidated call for applications, the results announcement and the first-round enrollment notice. They also sought information from 69 Brazilian federal universities about procedures for admitting high-performance athletes. Of those institutions, 66 reported having no such procedure, one did not respond, and two—UFMS and the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria—reported having athlete-specific admission processes. UFMS alone met the study’s three inclusion criteria: its call included para-sports, its results listed candidates’ scores, and it identified participants’ levels of competition. Because the analysis used publicly available documents without identifiable personal data, it was exempt from research-ethics review.

UFMS introduced Pró-Atleta in 2023 as an experimental and temporary means of expanding access to undergraduate education on the basis of athletic achievement. The first selection took place in December 2023, with undergraduate study beginning in 2024. No Brazilian federal law nationally guarantees reserved university places for high-performance athletes, but university autonomy permits institutions to establish admissions procedures compatible with federal law. Pró-Atleta converted recent competition results into a points system. Bronze, silver and gold medals in state competitions carried 25, 40 and 50 points, respectively; national medals carried 75, 120 and 150 points; and international medals carried 225, 360 and 450 points.

The 2025 call provided one place for each program at each administrative unit, producing 103 openings across 53 undergraduate programs. These comprised 37 bachelor’s degree programs, 14 teacher-education programs and two higher-education technology programs. Medicine, law and dentistry did not offer places. Forty-nine openings were located at Cidade Universitária in Campo Grande, while the remaining 54 were distributed across nine campuses in Mato Grosso do Sul’s interior. Applicants could select a first and second program. Among 57 submissions, 37 were validated; 34 of those applicants placed a Campo Grande program first, and 28 placed one second. Of the validated group, 22 were admitted, producing an admission rate of 59.46 percent.

Academic preferences were concentrated in fields closely related to sport. Physical education accounted for 24.32 percent of first choices and physical therapy for 21.62 percent, together representing 45.94 percent of validated applications. As second choices, physical education, physical therapy, nutrition, nursing and psychology each received 10.81 percent of selections. Considering both preferences, 33 of the 53 programs attracted at least one application: 22 were bachelor’s degrees, nine were teacher-education programs and two were higher-education technology programs. The results show broad access to different subject areas but also concentration in physical education and physical therapy, along with no first-choice applications for nearly half of the offered programs.

Points among validated applicants ranged from 50 to 4,500. The most common intervals were 100–199 points, representing 16.21 percent of validated applications; 300–399 points, with 13.51 percent; and 1,200–1,299 points, with 10.81 percent. The 22 athletes admitted in the first round had the same minimum and maximum scores. State-level competitors accounted for 41 percent of validated applicants, while national-level and state-level competitors each represented 36.5 percent of admitted athletes. International competitors were a small minority of the admitted group. The results therefore document substantial participation by athletes already competing at state and national levels, without establishing whether the program reached a representative distribution of athletes across every competitive level.

Admissions were divided between general places and places reserved for groups defined by Brazilian law. Of the 22 first-round admissions, 13 used general places and nine used reserved places, meaning 40.9 percent of admitted athletes entered through reserved categories. One category for candidates who completed high school in public schools, regardless of income, filled all seven of its available places. Other categories were filled at lower rates or left vacant. The results also included high-scoring applicants who did not receive places, including candidates with 1,215, 1,080, 730 and 450 points in general competition and candidates with 2,475, 1,290, 575 and 465 points in reserved categories. Thus, fewer applications than openings at the program level did not mean weak competition within every course, campus or admission track.

Pró-Atleta places successful applicants within the regular student body of a Brazilian federal university rather than making continued enrollment depend on renewed athletic performance. The authors state that, once admitted and enrolled, students may continue their degrees and cannot be dismissed because of poor sporting results, injury or retirement. The program also retains the admission categories established by Brazil’s affirmative-action framework, allowing athletic achievement to operate alongside considerations of race, income, disability and public-school attendance. The case study further notes that the 2025 call excluded former athletes whose results fell outside the three-year scoring window, identifying retirement as a limitation of the program’s eligibility rules.

The study was limited to documentary evidence from UFMS and a single 2025 admission cycle, without interviews with athletes or university administrators. It therefore could not assess students’ academic progress, continued sporting performance, reasons for applying or experiences of the admissions process. Other documented limitations include low competition for many places, concentrated interest in physical education and physical therapy, limited demand for interior campuses, and the exclusion of former athletes. The authors suggest broader outreach to federations, clubs and schools, review of allocations in the most requested programs, refinements intended to reduce differences among programs and cities, and mechanisms for recognizing retired athletes. They also recommend research covering more admissions cycles, the program at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, and the academic and athletic performance of students admitted through Pró-Atleta. The 2025 results provide a bounded account of how one new policy operated, without establishing its long-term reach or benefits.

Subject of Research: Evaluation of the 2025 Pró-Atleta athlete-admissions process at the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul.

Article Title: Admission requirements for athletes in higher education: analysis by Pró-Atleta at the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Article References: Silva, J. V. P. D., & Albuquerque, A. C. D. (2026). Admission requirements for athletes in higher education: analysis by Pró-Atleta at the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 8, Article 1955933. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2026.1955933

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2026.1955933

Keywords: athlete admissions, higher education, UFMS, Pró-Atleta, dual careers, Brazilian universities, public policy, affirmative action, sports policy, case study, Admission, requirements