This dissertation, To get in is not difficult, the problem is how to hang in there… The permanence of scholarship students in PUC-Rio is the result of an empirical research, which includes the analysis of students, originating from Preparatory Community Courses for the Admission Exam and ProUni, who earned scholarships and were assisted by the Emergency Solidary Fund offered by PUC-Rio (FESP). Besides the analysis of a quantitative data on the profile of the assisted students, collected in 2007, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 16 FESP students in order to understand their perceptions about the project. In addition, strategies used by these students to persist at the university before being included into this program were analyzed. Document and archive analyses were conducted to present a brief overview of the history of FESP, including its creation and development over the ten years of the project. Also included were interviews with university teachers and staff members who participated in implementing the FESP project. The findings of this study suggest the need for a wider undergraduate student assistance program to guarantee the permanence into private and public universities of students who financial support.