This paper addresses the issue of the beneficiaries of the Program University students stay for All - PROUNI Course of Social Service UNIGRANRIO. It has a particular focus on the perception of PROUNI beneficiaries about the limits and possibilities to stay in higher education. The qualitative and quantitative research was developed with 09 students beneficiaries of the program, entering in 2011 in the Social Service Course UNIGRANRIO. In addition to the quantitative data analysis to the socioeconomic profile of students, interviews were conducted semi - structured to elucidate why these students enrolled in higher education through PROUNI, the academic career in higher education, as well as the strategies they used to remain at the university identifying their perceptions about the positive and weaknesses of the program. This work reflects on the landscape of higher education in Brazil, historically marked by unequal access. A brief history was held in the Brazilian higher education addressing the transformation of higher education over the years and the changes that occurred with the implementation of affirmative action policies for blacks, mulattos, Indians and individuals with low socioeconomic status. The enlargement process of the higher education field, with the democratization of political access, resulting from PROUNI, leads us to reflect on the needs of students do not require full or partial gratuity only to enter higher education, but conditions and measures to ensure the retention and course completion with appropriate academic achievement through recommended and oportunizados the student assistance grants. The paper also presents a historical review of the University of Rio Grande Prof. José de Souza Herdy - UNIGRANRIO, empirical field research. For this rescue, we proceeded to the reading and analysis of institutional documents. Final results point to the need to implement student assistance policies which allow students to stay in a private higher education institution.