Abstract
This paper aims to understand how student assistance is being established as a scientific field and a specific area of professional activity, and has developed from student support services. This is a qualitative study that includes a bibliographical survey, an analysis of legislation and field research involving 26 student assistance professionals from four federal universities in the Southeast region of Brazil. Based on the original concept of institutional culture, the article discusses whether student assistance is social assistance, and concludes that the debate around student assistance is not new and mobilizes different scientific capitals in a dispute over perspectives on what can be considered ideal student assistance.
HIGHER EDUCATION; STUDENT ASSISTANCE; UNIVERSITY STUDENT