Government modifies PRONABEC scholarship regulations for its re-engineering

The Executive Branch modified the Regulations of Law No. 29837, which creates the National Program for Scholarships and Educational Credit (PRONABEC), through Supreme Decree No. 017-2026-MINEDU, published on Thursday, September 24, 2026, in the Legal Norms section of the official newspaper El Peruano. The regulation rewrites 27 articles and the annex regarding the consequences of resignation and loss of benefits to implement the program’s re-engineering. It bears the signature of Luis Fernando Galarreta Velarde, first vice president of the Republic and head of the Office of the Presidency, and is endorsed by the Minister of Education, José Antonio Chang Escobedo.

The decree was issued at the Government House on September 23, 2026, and modifies articles 5, 7, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 52, and 55 of the Regulations approved by Supreme Decree No. 018-2020-MINEDU. It also incorporates article 46-A, Chapter VI of Title Two—which comprises article 56—and the Fifth Final Complementary Provision, and repeals numerals 29.4 and 29.5 of article 29, literal f) of numeral 31.2 of article 31, article 36, and article 49.

Implementation is financed through the institutional budget of PRONABEC, without requiring additional resources from the public treasury, and the text is also published on the Single Digital Platform of the Peruvian State and on the digital sites of the Ministry of Education and PRONABEC.

Background: the re-engineering route

The regulation recalls that Ministerial Resolution No. 106-2026-MINEDU created the sectoral working group in charge of the proposal for the normative, financial, and operational redesign of PRONABEC. The project was published by Ministerial Resolution No. 365-2026-MINEDU, and its comment period was extended by Ministerial Resolution No. 391-2026-MINEDU.

The Multisectoral Commission for Regulatory Quality (CMCR) issued a favorable opinion on the Ex Ante Regulatory Impact Analysis File, communicated on September 11, 2026, and on September 15, 2026, declared by majority that subsequent changes do not generate additional compliance costs.

New access criteria and benefits

Article 5 redefines concepts that govern the delivery of benefits:

• High academic performance: top third of the comparison group; for postgraduate studies, at least the top fifth of the undergraduate degree. High-Performance Colleges (COAR) certify this condition due to their educational model.
• Insufficient economic resources: monthly family per capita income equal to or less than 2 minimum vital wages for scholarships, 7 for educational credits, and 5 as individual income for postgraduate studies.
• Financable costs: enrollment, tuition, foreign language, leveling courses, housing, mobility and meals, interprovincial or international transport, health insurance, materials, laptop, and mandatory fees abroad.

Article 7 details the concepts to be financed by component—Undergraduate Scholarship, Special Scholarships, and Postgraduate Scholarships—while Articles 14 and 20 establish the impediments to applying, including having received or waived a state scholarship for the same level of studies.

Suspensions, resignations, and credit recovery

The regulation enables the suspension of the scholarship or credit due to illness or temporary disability, fortuitous event or force majeure, pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding, causes attributable to the higher education institution, and preventive or effective imprisonment. Changes of major and institution proceed exceptionally and only once, and are approved by chief resolution.

The modified annex establishes the consequences of resignation and the loss of benefits:

• Resignation before the payment of the first grant: no impediment or reimbursement.
• Resignation after the start of classes: 2-year impediment to apply for another state scholarship or credit, and 5 years if it occurs from the second year of studies.
• Loss due to falsification of information or definitive withdrawal from the institution: permanent impediment and full reimbursement of costs.
• Refinancing: available before coercive collection for those who fail to pay 2 or more installments.

A chapter for social scholarships and credits

The new Chapter VI of Title Two incorporates Article 56, which regulates educational scholarships and credits of a social nature: these are exceptional and non-competitive, according to the second paragraph of Article 4 of Law No. 29837, and include the rulings of international organizations that mandate the granting of higher education by the Peruvian State.

The transitory provisions specify that pending requests before the Scholarship Committee and the Educational Credit Committee will be assumed by the units established by the program, and that scholars with an awarded scholarship may finance repeated undergraduate courses if they did not fail the same course more than twice.

The modification applies to current and future PRONABEC competitions: it defines who can apply, what is financed, and what happens when a scholarship recipient suspends, resigns, or loses their benefit. For students and their families, the text published in El Peruano is the current reference regarding access, permanence, and the repayment of public resources invested in their education.

Source: El Peruano, Legal Norms No. 19538, Thursday, September 24, 2026, p. 8 (official reference: D.S. No. 017-2026-MINEDU).