Scholarships and access
Speaking at the University of Colima's School of Accounting and Administration, Sheinbaum linked the enrollment growth to broader education offerings, additional school places and financial support. The government's approach seeks to help students enter high school after middle school and stay enrolled despite expenses such as transportation, meals and supplies.
Sheinbaum also defended making the Benito Juárez Universal Scholarship available to eligible public high school students rather than reserving it for those with the highest grades. She said students should have the financial conditions needed to study without being separated by their grade averages.
The scholarship provides 1,900 pesos every two months, paid in five installments during the 10-month school year. There are no payments in July or August. Students must attend a public high school, may be up to 25 years old and can receive assistance for a maximum of 40 months.
Julio César León Trujillo, national coordinator for Welfare Scholarships, reported 1,800,919 first-time scholarship applications, exceeding an initial projection of about 1.5 million. Those applications measure demand for aid, not the number of students newly entering high school.
León Trujillo also reported in October that the National Coordination of Welfare Scholarships had organized 14,109 school assemblies nationwide to explain the Benito Juárez program and encourage students to remain in school.
A six-year target of 400,000 new places
The enrollment increase is separate from the government's construction and expansion targets. On August 17, 2026, Sheinbaum doubled the six-year goal for additional National Baccalaureate places nationwide, raising it from 200,000 to 400,000. She cited strong demand when high school enrollment opens. Education Secretary Mario Delgado Carrillo said the larger target would increase upper-secondary coverage from 80% to 90%.
Deputy Education Secretary Tania Rodríguez Mora said more than 10 billion pesos is being invested in 485 construction and expansion projects in 2026, with the aim of adding 156,240 upper-secondary places. That follows work on 88 schools in 2025 that generated 44,000 places.
According to BNamericas, the 485 initiatives include 31 new campuses and 370 "Margarita Maza" high schools. The upper-secondary projects have an allocation of 10.916 billion pesos within the year's total school-infrastructure budget of 58.415 billion pesos.
Colima plans expansions and new campuses
In Colima, Delgado Carrillo announced plans to expand seven high schools across municipalities including Manzanillo, Tecomán, Colima, Cuauhtémoc and Villa de Álvarez. He also announced construction of a new high school in Villa de Álvarez and three "Margarita Maza" National High School campuses.
The projects are intended to make room for more students continuing their education after middle school. Gov. Indira Vizcaíno Silva also highlighted ColiBecas, the state program that complements federal education support.
Welfare Scholarships seek to reach 22 million students
Across education levels, federal figures put Welfare Scholarship participation at 19,593,156 students, supported by more than 136 billion pesos in annual spending. On October 19, 2026, Sheinbaum announced a goal of reaching approximately 22 million beneficiaries by the end of the year, part of an effort to reduce financial pressures that can lead students to leave school.
As of October, the programs served 14,960,755 basic-education students. That total included 9,502,322 primary-school recipients of Rita Cetina scholarships and 5,281,672 secondary-school recipients.
At the upper-secondary level, Benito Juárez scholarships covered 4,162,377 students, with annual spending of 39.5 billion pesos. Jóvenes Escribiendo el Futuro, which serves eligible higher-education students, supported 414,100 recipients with 12 billion pesos.
Enrollment is only the first step
Education specialists caution that financial aid must be accompanied by academic support, adequate facilities and suitable conditions for learning. More students also mean schools need sufficient teachers, classrooms, materials and services, along with attention to students' academic and personal needs.
The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, known as IMCO, warned in 2026 that Mexico's total education budget had not yet returned to its historical level, even as the government expanded upper-secondary infrastructure.
Beyond the initial enrollment gains, learning outcomes and completion rates will be measures of whether the combined aid and construction efforts help students finish high school and move toward further professional and employment opportunities.
Online registration runs through October 28
Students also have an online option through Prepa en Línea-SEP, whose registration period for the 2026 cycle runs from October 19 through October 28, 2026. The program charges no enrollment, tuition or processing fees and awards a National Baccalaureate certificate. Eligible participants may also receive the Benito Juárez scholarship.
