Created in 1990, the Programa USP e as Professões (USP and Professions Program) aims to assist students so that, with the help of their families and teachers, they can be guided in the important task of choosing a professional career. In this way, the program offers students taking college entrance exams, several opportunities to access the necessary information for a more conscious choice of major among those available at USP, also allowing a reduction in the University’s dropout rate.
The program’s main actions are the USP and Professions fairs and monitored visits to high school students and preparatory course students through USP’s teaching and research units on its seven campuses.
The fairs have been held annually since 2001 in the countryside (rotating among the various campuses) and since 2006 in the capital, attracting a large audience.
During the monitored visits, the University’s professors and students share their views about the courses and teaching units they belong to, showing the different activities that take place there, such as extension courses, community services, and the promotion of cultural, scientific, technological, and sporting events.
The program also aims to inform educators about all the cultural and extension activities offered by the University, showing its rich variety of museums, organizations, and institutes.
In 2020 and 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the monitored visits have been temporarily suspended, but the USP and Professions Fair took place digitally, presenting an online program that included exclusive videos, lives, chats, vocational guidance, and artistic-cultural presentations.
Translated by: Lara Yoshime Shizuko Fukushima