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The Beca Benito Juárez supports low-income students throughout Mexico. Understand how it works, who can apply, and the real impact it has on young people’s lives.
Understand how youth scholarship programs work and what details are important to verify.
Explore Scholarship Guidance 👉Drop out of school or continue? For many, it is an economic question
In Mexico, school dropout rates at the upper secondary level are still a serious problem. A considerable portion of young people who abandon their studies do so not because of lack of interest — but because they need to work to help support the family income.
For this group, the Beca Bienestar Benito Juárez represents a concrete alternative: a bimonthly benefit that helps cover study-related expenses and reduces the pressure for the young person to leave school in favor of the labor market.
The program is intended for upper secondary students (high school or equivalent) who attend public schools and belong to families in situations of economic vulnerability.
Who can apply
The eligibility profile is broad, but with defined criteria:
- Young people regularly enrolled in public upper secondary schools
- Belonging to low-income families, especially those in situations of poverty or vulnerability
- With minimum classroom attendance
- Without accumulation with other federal scholarships of the same level
Registration is carried out directly through the school, through platforms linked to the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) or the Secretaría de Bienestar, depending on the current cycle.
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Understand how youth scholarship programs work and what details are important to verify.
Explore Scholarship Guidance 👉How the money is received
The benefit is deposited directly into the student’s account — or, in the case of minors, onto the card of the mother, father, or tutor registered in the system. Payments are made every two months and follow the school calendar.
There is no restriction on how the money must be used. The logic is that each family knows better than anyone what the young person needs: transportation, school supplies, internet, food, or simply helping with the household budget.
What young people do with the benefit
In public schools located in peripheral areas, pedagogical coordinators report a noticeable change in the attendance and engagement of students who receive the scholarship.
“I used it to pay for the bus fare. My house is far from the school and my mother did not have money for transportation every day,” says Emiliano, 17 years old, a high school student in Monterrey.
For others, the money goes directly toward internet access — a resource that became indispensable in the post-pandemic years for accessing assignments, research, and school materials.
Documents generally required for registration
The process varies slightly between states and cycles, but the most common documents are:
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- Student’s CURP
- Student identification (youth INE, school ID, or birth certificate)
- Proof of enrollment in a public school
- Guardian’s documentation (for minors under 18 years old)
- Proof of address
In many cases, the school counselor conducts the collective registration process at the beginning of the school year. It is essential to ask the school coordinator whether the process has already started.
Why so many eligible young people do not receive the scholarship
Despite the significant reach of the program, there are young people who fail to register for reasons that go beyond bureaucracy:
The first is lack of communication: not knowing that the benefit exists or mistakenly believing that they do not meet the criteria.
The second is changing schools: young people who transferred institutions sometimes need to register again and are not informed about it.
The third is document irregularities: outdated CURP or birth certificates with errors can block the process.
In these cases, the guidance is to directly seek the tutoring or counseling department at the school, which generally has access to the tools necessary to resolve the issue.
Impact beyond the classroom
Studies on conditional transfer programs in Mexico show that the scholarship not only reduces dropout rates — it also positively influences academic performance. Young people who receive the benefit show, on average, better approval rates.
This makes sense: when a young person does not need to worry about transportation costs or urgently contributing to the family income, they have more mental energy to dedicate to their studies.