The growth of private providers in Brazil

 Implications for equity and quality

There is a cruel irony in Brazilian higher education. The high fees for private universities put them beyond the reach of most people. At the same time, intense competition for places at the free public universities means that on the whole, only those who have attended expensive preparatory courses are admitted. People living in poverty are thereby excluded on both counts.

Demand for higher education in Brazil has grown rapidly: enrolment rose from 11 to 25 percent between 1991 and 2005. While there has been some expansion in public universities, the vast majority has been in private universities. Nearly nine out of ten are now private, with 81 percent of students starting university in 2006 in private institutions.

Only 11 percent of 18 to 24 year-olds are enrolled in higher education. Consequently, the growth in the private sector has been welcomed by the Brazilian Government and organisations such as the World Bank. But has this expansion contributed to equity in the higher education system? What has been the effect on the quality of provision?

Most of the growth has not been in the traditional Catholic universities, but in new profit-making institutions. While this expansion has increased available places, it has not contributed to equitable access for students:

• Fees vary considerably depending on the prestige of the institution and course. This prestige in turn influences the value of qualifications in the job market, leading to a reproduction of initial inequalities.
• Half of Brazilian families earn less than R$900 (around US$500) a month, making most courses inaccessible as they range from R$200 to over R$4,000 per month.
• Private institutions have more students from the richest backgrounds, and fewer from the poorest backgrounds, than their public counterparts.
• Student loans are only available for approximately one in eight students in private institutions.

Competition between providers has not brought the expected gains in quality:

• The performance of students at private institutions is lower than at federal and state ones.
• Private institutions have only 12 percent of staff with doctoral degrees, as opposed to 42 percent in the public sector.
• Only 16 percent of teaching staff in private institutions have full-time contracts, compared to 75 percent in the public sector.
• Private institutions have higher drop-out rates.

In 2005, the Brazilian government launched the University for All (Prouni) initiative. Through this, private universities allocate free places to low-income students in return for tax breaks. At first, this appears an ideal scheme for rapidly expanding the system at little cost. However, new places are mostly concentrated in the less prestigious courses and institutions, and the difficulties new students experience receive little attention.

While there is a place for private providers within the system, their current growth is not a solution to the problems of equity and quality. Government efforts should focus on increasing public university places, and ensuring access to high quality education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Tristan McCowan
Roehampton University, School of Education, Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5PJ, UK
T +44 20 83925799
t.mccowan@roehampton.ac.uk