Director: Daniel C. Levy

Private vs. Public Socioeconomic Standing in Brazil

(Entry by Daniel C. Levy)

PROPHE Summary:
A new national study by Brazil's census bureau shows striking facts about rich and poor in the country's private and public universities. In contrast to the widespread, longstanding notion that the wealthy dominate in the prestigious universities, which are mostly public, after enjoying the privileges of private pre-university education, data show only moderate differences in the socioeconomic status of private and public university students. This is true in regard to race, percentage working as they study, and night study.

A related widespread, longstanding notion is that public universities dominate at the high quality rungs of the system. But the Provao exam evaluating student knowledge indicates a more complex mix. Although federal public universities are well represented at the top, state and municipal public universities are heavily represented among the weaker courses, often in teacher preparation.

Rather than stereotyping the two sectors, then, public policy might aim at preserving quality in leading public places, with good funding especially for costly fields of study, while redesigning other courses and using private higher education appropriately. Meanwhile, if public higher education expands significantly to take in more and more students from modest backgrounds, then private higher education may lose enrollments. There is a danger of the public institutions not being in condition to handle the new enrollments well and of private institutions gaining elitist positions.

The original publication (in Portuguese) is "Ricos e pobres nas universidades," by Simon Schwartzman, O Estado de Sao Paulo, Sep 9, 2003, reposted in the EDUCAR listserv (shown with permission. Inscription at www.educarchile.cl and there will soon be an archive of EDUCAR pieces at www.educarchile.cl/modulos/noticias/constructor/investigador.asp).

PROPHE Observation:
Brazil has for many decades been Latin America's leading example of majority enrollment in the private sector of higher education. Along with that has gone the stereotype of private infe