The National Plan was launched few years ago and entered a new phase in 2022. It aims, until 2026, at building new residences and rehabilitating old buildings in different places in Portugal, especially where there is more student housing demand than supply. The goal is also to offer more and better conditions for students and their families in accessing housing solutions.

The Plan takes an important place within the ongoing higher education reforms related to the Resilience and Recovery Funds. It relies on the participation of several entities with an important role in science and higher education, such as local authorities, social bodies and higher education institutions.  Apart from the fact that it facilitates all practical and logistical issues, both for entities and for students, this Plan also wants to promote the access to higher education and to ensure that students continue their studies since they are already integrated into the higher education system.   The government authority responsible for this Plan has taken on the commitment to provide specific support to cover accommodation costs for all students displaced from public and private higher education that come from families on national minimum wage.   The National Plan for Housing in Higher Education represents the biggest investment ever in student housing and the biggest investment in the last decades in higher education buildings, with the construction of 33 new residences and the rehabilitation of 98 existing ones being planned. Portugal has invested a total of 561 million euros, 447 of which financed by the Resilience and Recovery Plan, considered the largest ever investment in student residences and the largest investment in higher education buildings in recent decades. Between 2021 and 2016, we will pass from 157 to 246 residences and from 15073 to 26868 beds. This is a 78% increase in the current capacity. 

Source: Eurydice Unit Portugal More information:  https://erasmusmais.pt/pnaes/  https://pnaes.pt/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/BROCHURA-PNAES_2022_2026.pdf