School Enrollment and Avancemos Scholarship (MEP/IMAS)

**School enrollment**: the Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP) handles the process in two steps, on dates published each year in its official school calendar (mep.go.cr):

1. **Pre-enrollment**: it is done first, usually at the beginning of August for the following academic year — it reserves the student's spot for the next year.

2. **Enrollment ratification**: it is confirmed later, typically in December, once all final data is available.

Exact dates change each year — **always confirm in the current MEP school calendar** before accepting a date from a previous year.

**Avancemos Scholarship**: it is a conditional monetary transfer, coordinated between the MEP, the Ministerio de Trabajo (MTSS), and the IMAS, that pays families in poverty so that their children remain in primary or secondary school instead of leaving due to economic necessity.

Main requirements:

• The student must be enrolled in primary or secondary school, in a modality approved by the MEP.
• The family must be in **extreme poverty or basic poverty**, verified through SINIRUBE.
• Provide a current **study certificate** (issued less than 6 months ago) from the educational center, confirming enrollment.
• Current identity documents for the student and the applicant, verifiable at the TSE or Migración as appropriate.
• If the student attends a private or subsidized school, you must provide proof of how tuition and monthly fees are covered (internal scholarship, exemption, etc.).

Note: the exact amount of the Avancemos subsidy varies by the student's educational level and is updated periodically — **do not assume a fixed figure**, confirm it directly on imas.go.cr or at the nearest regional IMAS office, where the application is submitted and renewed.