Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Fuentes Medina, head of selection at the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) in Matanzas, highlighted this week that the young individuals enrolling as cadets in the universities of this institution are not required to take the entrance exams that other applicants for higher education in Cuba must face. He stated this during an interview with TV Yumurí aired last Thursday.
"The own cadets studying in the military educational institutions of the Ministry of Interior and the Armed Forces do not take preventive tests, meaning they do not confront the instrument; they do not have to face the challenges of mathematics, Spanish, and history," stated the officer.
Instead of those exams, the MININT applies its own selection process, which includes psychometric tests and assessments of physical and mental fitness, in addition to requiring an academic average of 85 points or higher for military profile careers.
Fuentes Medina described that process as accessible: "This young person who is, as we say, open-minded, who is preparing and studying constantly, really doesn’t find it difficult in the test battery that we [apply]... those young people who go to the cadets do not take that test, which is a very positive option for those kids."
Young people who complete the twelfth grade in pre-university institutes or the fourth year in polytechnic institutes in the province of Matanzas can gain access as their own cadets.
The official explained that the Ministry of the Interior Higher Institute, based in Havana, is organized into three faculties: the Technical Faculty, where cryptology and operational computing are studied; the Faculty of Law —described as the largest— which includes majors such as criminal forensic expert, criminal investigator, criminal instructor, public safety, and a degree in social sciences for political-ideological work; and a third faculty where DTI and counterintelligence are taught.
Before starting the course, all cadets must undergo a month of preliminary preparation in military aspects.
The MININT also has a second modality: it utilizes quotas granted by the Ministry of Higher Education at civilian universities—such as the University of Matanzas, CUJAE, or others—for specialties that are not offered at its own institutes. Those studying through this path must present the entrance exam and achieve at least 60 points in each of the three subjects: Mathematics, Spanish, and History of Cuba.
The MININT also offers basic and advanced courses in a semi-in-person format for young people aged 18 to 35 with a minimum education level of ninth grade, in specialties such as criminal investigator, DTI, counterintelligence, criminal instruction, forensic expert, canine techniques, and public order agent.
The announcement comes on the eve of the entrance exams for higher education for the 2026-2027 academic year, scheduled for June 5 (Mathematics), June 9 (Spanish), and June 12 (Cuban History), with 96,305 university spots available nationwide.
The context is revealing: in the previous course, only 46.4% of applicants passed the entrance exams, highlighting the deep crisis of the Cuban educational system after decades of accumulated deterioration under the dictatorship. In this scenario, the MININT's route —without exams for its own cadets— emerges as a privileged path to higher education, although it leads directly to the regime's structures of repression.
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