Opportunities for Access to Higher Education through the IOM-UNICAES Project

Abstract

This article presents the challenges, benefits, and opportunities faced by students in the technical programs of Dairy and Meat, Tourism Management and Development, and Nursing, who are scholarship recipients of the Educational Opportunities Scholarships project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development and the International Organization for Migration, in coordination with the Universidad Católica de El Salvador. For data collection, interviews were used, employing both an electronic questionnaire, administered via email, and an oral questionnaire through phone calls. The data show that the main barrier to accessing higher education is economic factors, followed by lack of family support and various social obstacles, such as geographic location and transportation problems. Despite these challenges, scholarship recipients have highlighted the numerous benefits they receive from the scholarship, such as achieving their personal and professional goals. They also note that this support has enabled them to access formal employment with better salary opportunities, positively impacting their quality of life and that of their families.