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The promulgation of the New National Graduate Education Plan (PNPG 2024-2028) raises central questions about the future directions of Brazilian graduate studies, historically regarded as a privileged locus for fostering research, science, and innovation. This qualitative, exploratory, bibliographic, and documentary study is grounded in the historical-critical methodology to examine the challenges, urgencies, and limitations highlighted in the PNPG in light of the system’s strategic role in national development. Documentary analysis focuses on three categories: (i) emerging challenges; (ii) objectives and mission; and (iii) axes of action, limits, and obstacles. Results reveal noteworthy advances in inclusion, diversity, and internationalization, aligned with goals of equitable expansion and strengthened inter-institutional networks. Nonetheless, vulnerabilities persist—such as budgetary dependence on unstable sources, risks of technocratic instrumentalization, and gaps in qualitative program evaluation—that hinder the construction of a robust, socially referenced scientific ecosystem capable of meeting contemporary demands for technological sovereignty. Consolidating an inclusive and excellent graduate system therefore requires stable financing policies, assessment metrics that value regional diversity and social impact, and incentives for collaborative arrangements among universities, institutes, and the productive sector. By outlining these critical elements, the study contributes to the debate on PNPG 2024-2028 implementation and guides reflections on strategies that ensure sustained high-quality scientific output, foster the training of highly qualified human resources, and expand international engagement while accounting for Brazil’s specificities and inequalities.