The expansion of higher education in the last decades in Brazil has followed a pattern that can also be seen in other countries: diversification and institutional differentiation have profoundly transformed its structure, leading to the adoption of new types of institutions and learning, an improvement in academic standards and wider socio-economic diversity when it comes to students and professors.
Brazilian higher education has developed into a complex system of 2,587 institutions, divided into public (institutions under the control of federal, state and municipal governments) and private (non-profit and for-profit) sectors, which have various levels of autonomy depending on their academic organisation that is, whether they are universities, university centres or colleges.
The private sector, which is composed mainly of small and medium-sized colleges, accounts for 87% of institutions and its courses focus on the humanities. The most technologically demanding and expensive courses are generally provided by public institutions, which are predominantly large research universities. Unlike the private sector, public sector tuition is free.
Financial aid took the form of stretching the time for paying back loans or reducing fees
5% attending for-profit payday loans MS institutions. Enrolments in public higher education institutions have increased in recent decades, but expansion of the private sector has been more pronounced.
According to the last Brazilian Higher Education Census in 2019, 75% of the country’s eight million students are concentrated in private higher education institutions, with 41
The Brazilian higher education system offers courses in a range of fields of study and issues three types of diplomas or degrees: a bachelor degree, a teacher training licence and a vocational degree (also known as a technological’ degree in Brazil).
The popularity of night courses and distance education correlate strongly with the socio-economic profile of students. Evening courses are attended mostly by older students, who are generally full-time workers, whereas daytime courses are preferred by the middle and upper classes. Distance education courses, which were practically non-existent in the late 1990s, are growing and accounted for 20% of total enrolments in 2019.
The expansion of higher education over the last decades has led to an increasing division in institutional enrolment along socioeconomic lines.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the entire higher education system and reinforced the need for student retention strategies. It opened up space for discussion about the deep-seated differences between and within public and private sector institutions.
All colleges and universities initially opted to cancel all face-to-face classes, including labs and other learning spaces, as they tried to encourage social distancing and slow the spread of the virus. The ability and speed at which institutions moved from class suspensions to remote classes varied considerably.
Over the course of the pandemic, there has been a remodelling of the higher education ecosystem, with the number of small institutions reducing and those run by large private companies becoming stronger because they are capable of sustaining themselves for longer and have more experience with distance learning.
All the public universities suspended in-person classes as soon as the pandemic struck. In , 89% of public higher education institutions remained closed. Case studies show that only three public universities in the state of Sao Paulo were open, with all their activities being online.
Teaching activities took longer to resume and differed in many ways in different institutions. Private higher education institutions focused more on campaigns for COVID-19 awareness and prevention, discounts on tuition fees and financing. Free access to equipment played a limited part in the COVID strategy of this sector.
The major distinction in the response to the pandemic between public and private institutions was the decision over whether to suspend classes or to continue teaching activities. Those institutions that managed to keep teaching activities going adopted strategies of establishing or reinforcing distance education.