PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION IN BRAZIL

Simon Schwartzman

doi:10.1590/1982-57652026v31id300635

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Simon Schwartzman Instituto de Estudos de Política Econômica https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2563-0792
- Conceptualization
- Data Curation
- Formal Analysis
- Investigation
- Methodology
- Project Administration
- Validation
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-57652026v31id300635

Keywords:

higher education, private sector, Brazil

Abstract

This study analyzes the rise of private higher education in Brazil, which has one of the highest shares of students enrolled in the private sector in the world (79.8% in 2024, considering its different types). It shows how this growth was an unintended consequence of the 1968 university reform and subsequent legislative changes that allowed for-profit institutions and government programs such as PROUNI and FIES. It examines the impact of the 2015 crisis, compares the public and private sectors in terms of admissions, size, fields, degrees, and modalities, and evaluates indicators of quality, equity, and efficiency. It also discusses specific policies for regulating the private sector with respect to teacher training, medical education, and distance education. The study concludes that Brazil is approaching the end of a cycle of expansion and that new regulations may restrict private growth, with consequences for accessibility and access.

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Author Biography

Simon Schwartzman, Instituto de Estudos de Política Econômica

Simon Schwartzman is a sociologist and political scientist, graduated from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, with a master’s degree from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences in Santiago, Chile (FLACSO), and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and was a member of the National Council for the Evaluation of Higher Education (CONAES) between 2017 and 2019. He served as president of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) (1994–1998), and worked as a professor and researcher at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, the University Institute of Research of Rio de Janeiro, the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, and the University of São Paulo.

He is a research associate at the Institute for Economic Policy Research (Casa das Garças) and a retired professor of the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters at the Federal University of Minas Gerais.