The 2020 clearing of the learning spaces due to the pandemic catalyzed the process of digitization of education. Furthermore, and less recognizably, it reversed the emerging equity scene in access to education. In Brazil, COVID-19 reinforced the political crisis, setting back the social advances that defined the new demography of the university campus after the implementation of the national University Restructuring Plan (REUNI), between 2002 and 2010, and the Law on Quotas for Higher Education (Law No. 12,711/2012). In parallel, the pandemic accentuated debates that have involved the future of humanity and the environment, focusing the academic lens on the promotion of social equity integrated into ecological care. The absence of a systemic view of current issues and future perspectives, articulating urban mobility, social equity and permanence in higher education attainment process, is a gap to be explored in this research, considering the university campus as a speculative stage of the positive transformations aimed at harmonizing human and non-human systems.

From the application of these global challenges to the university context, this research proposal aims to evaluate possible relationships between social inequality, road infrastructure and the permanence of students on campus. Employing a multi-method approach, the results are expected to structure data and arguments that can identify socio-environmental aspects that support higher education persistence and attainment of vulnerable groups. These data can highlight the impact of initiatives of the university and public administrators, such as prioritizing improvements in the public transportation system, infrastructure for walking - on and off campus - and quality spaces for education processes.