Access to higher education in Brazil: t he challenges of quality and equity

CEAvCENTRO DE ESTUDOS AVANÇADOS DA UNICAMP

Access to higher education in Brazil:the challenges of quality and equity

Renato H. L. PedrosaDeputy Head, Center of Advanced StudiesCoordinator, Group of Studies in Higher Education

Workshop on Equity in Higher Education: the International PerspectiveHigher School of EconomicsMoscow, April 19-20, 2012


Outline Overview of Brazilian higher education system A bit of history: 1960-2010

Access: national vs local systems Access: standardized tests vs ?

The challenge of equity: race/ethnicity and SES The challenge of quality vs quantity: engineering programs The challenge of equity vs quality: Prouni (federal program) The challenge of equity+quantity: the Technological Colleges,

São Paulo The challenge of quality+equity: Unicamp’s programs

What’s next in Brazil: more challengesPedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012


Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

• Area: 8.5 million sq km Population: 192 million

• GDP = U$ 2.6 trillion (U$13,500 GDP/capita)

• Higher Education• 2,378 institutions (278 public)• 190 universities (101 public)

6.3 million undergrad students enrolled • 5.4 million in presential programs• 76% of enrollments in the private system • 50% in for-profit institutions

• Net enrollment ratio (18-24 age cohort): 15%• Gross enrollment ratio: 27%

• Federal system• 58 universities, 37 Technological Institutes and 4

Colleges• 930,000 undergraduate students• 820,000 in presential programas• 15% of total undergraduate enrollment

Higher education in Brazil, 2010


Higher education in the state of São Paulo


• 22% of the Brazilian population: 41 million

• 33% of Bazilian GDP = U$ 850 billion (U$21,000 GDP/capita)

• Higher Education• 26% of all enrollment = 1.63 million (1.47 million in

presential programs)• 32% of graduating class: 260,000 of 830,000 total• Net enrollment ratio: 18% (34% gross enrollment ratio)• 86% in private HEIs (3/4 of those in for-profit HEIs)• Small federal participation, only 1.5% of enrollment

• State Public HE system• Best university system in Brazil• 3 universities, 28 campi, 120,000 undergraduate

students, 50,000 graduate students• 52 State Technical Colleges (FATECs), 55,000 students

• But still, only 14% of all enrollment is in public HEIs



• 1960: about 140,000 students enrolled in HE

• 1980: number had grown to about 1.4 million (+900%)

• 1980-1994:• Longest period of economic stagnation in Brazil’s republican history• Little development in HE, public or private• Enrollment in 1994 = 1.7 million (+21%)

HE in Brazil 1960-1994



HE in Brazil 1995-2010• Economic growth

• Expansion of private sector

• New National Law of Education (1996)• New paths for diversification of system• Deregulation

• Universalization of basic education (1st-8th grades) and increase of number of secondary education graduates (though that has stagnated recently)

• HE enrollment in 2010: 6.3 million (+270% over 1994 figure)

• BUT: most growth was in the private sector, mostly in the for-profit sybsector



0

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1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Enrollment in HE - Brazil 1980-2010

TotalPublicPrivate

Undergraduate enrollment in presential programs, 1980-2010

Census of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Brazil


Access: national vs local systems• Up to 2009, Brazilian HEIs developed their own admission systems

• Vestibular (non-standardized oral/written/MC examinations)• Nat’l Ed Law-NEL of 1968 required HEIs to use vestibular

• With new Nat’l Ed. Law-NEL (1996), HEIs had freedom to choose methodology, but all selective universities kept to the vestibular tradition

• 1998: Ministry of Education-ME starts High School National Exam (ENEM) (non-standardized, written essay + 68 MC items, 4hr test)

• 1998-2008: many HEIs start to use ENEM as part of their admission systems

• 2009: ME changes ENEM and establishes a national admissions system (SISU)• Standardized via IRT• WE + 180 MC items, 2-day test (total = 9hrs)• SISU allows for applicants to choose among all participant HEIs • Many federal HEIs adopted the system, but not the most selective



Access: standardized vs ?• Vestibular still enjoys a strong appeal

• Credibility: no security issues at more selective HEIs• Perceived as “just” (“same for all”)• Meritocratic: score is indication of present performance• Admission is a “prize” for that performance• Score usually assumed as good predictor of future performance

• ENEM, although standardized, lack same credibiliy, due to security issues that have plagued editions since 2009

• Research indicates standardized tests have limitations, may show bias against certain groups (minorities, women) and that HS grades and other applicants’ characteristics may play a relevant role in predicting future academic performance• SAT and later performance (J. Soares, W. Bowen et al)• SAT and gender (U Cal studies)• Brazil: Unicamp study about vestibular,later performance, SES and gender (Pedrosa et

al)

• Very few alternative systems; affirmative action comes as some sort of remedy for perceived “elitism” of pure Vestibular/Enem systems



The challenge of equity: race/ethnicity and SES


• Over 50% of the young (18-24) in Brazil declare themselves as blacks (B) or pardos (P) (of mixed race/color)• 30% in the state of São Paulo, but about 50% in Rio de Janeiro and over 70% in

some NE states like Bahia

• Overall in Brazil, about xx% of enrolled students belong in that group, less so in public universities• In the public universities in São Paulo, less than 15% of the students say they

belong in that group.

• In the public universities in SP, about 25% of enrolled students have families with a total yearly income of U$20,000 or less, even though group comprises about 50% of the SP population

• But: situation was much worse 10 or 15 years ago. For example, in the SP public universities, as late as 2004, only 10% or less of the student pop. belonged in the B/P group

• What happened: expansion + affirmative action policies


The challenge of equity vs quality: Prouni (federal program)


• Started 2005

• Public is low-income students graduating from public HS system

• Fiscal waiver for private HEIs

• About 120,000 admissions per semester currently, one million scholarships granted since 2005

• Uses ENEM as only admission criterion

• Detailed data related to program is not made public

• There’s provision for quality requirements for programs/institutions to participate, but data and information regarding compliance has not been released as well


The challenge of quality vs quantity: engineering programs


• In 2008, 32,000 new engineers graduated from Brazilian HEIs

• Some 26,000 participated in the Enade test that’s part of the National System of Higher Ed Assessment (Sinaes)

• Enade is composed of general education and subject area items, both written and MC

• Program is scored 1-5 using its students’ scores, 5 being the top one

• The Ministry of Education considers that levels 4 and 5 should be considered adequate

• But among lower scores in level 4 one finds averages that are half of top scores

• Even so, only 28% of all graduating engineering students were enrolled in programs scoring 4 or 5, which indicates that most graduates lacked very basic knowledge expected from engineers

• Splitting public vs private: 48% of those enrolled in public HEIs and 11% of those in private HEIs belonged in 4/5 level programs


The challenge of equity+quantity: the State Technological Colleges, São Paulo


• Started in 1969, but only in the last 10 years has seen expressive growth

• Offers 3-year programs with direct links to job market (but also in some traditional areas, like technical health training)

• Spreaded across the state, each campus offers programs related to the local economy

• State investment has grown 5-fold in the Fatec system from 2005 to 2010– No cuts in the state universities’ budgets

• Employability 1 year after graduation: 92%– Some programs reach 96% or more: construction, information systems

• Average monthly salary 1 year after graduation– $1,500– About 75% of average salary in traditional academic careers in Brazil– More than wages in some traditional academic degrees– Follows OECD countries’ average



State Technological Colleges (FATECs) in São PauloSpots, enrollment and campi

1990-2010

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1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

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The challenge of quality+equity: Unicamp’s programs

1. General affirmative action program - PAAIS


• Based on a study that followed all students admitted during the years 1994-1997 until they graduated or dropped out• Pedrosa et all, 2007, Higher Ed Management and Policy (OECD)

• The study showed that students that had graduated from public HS or had low income or were women, performed better during their academic life than the complementary groups

• University used that info to develop a program that attributed extra points in the vestibular, increasing their chance to being admitted



Ranking with extra points

Ranking without extra points

Ranking at end of 4th year

MedIcal School/UNICAMP

2003-2004: 11 students coming from public schools - 10%

2005: 33 students coming from public schools – 30%

2003-2004: 5 blacks/pardos

2005: 11 blacks/pardos


The challenge of quality+equity: Unicamp’s programs2. Best students program - PROFIS


• Facts• Campinas has 96 public high schools• In 2008-2009, more than half didn’t have a single student enrolled in Unicamp’s

programs

• Action• Unicamp developed a “Texas” style program, admitting at least one student from

every HS in the city, as many as two, in a new program, with a general education flavor

• Students would choose their major after two years in that program, including the most selective (medicine, engineering, etc.)

• Results (Andrade et al, preprint Unicamp, 2012)• Still in the beginning of second year, not much info on academic performance• Drop-out rate is lower than Unicamp’s average• Much lower SES compared to general Unicamp student pop. (actually, lower than

general SP pop.)• Parents with much lower educational level than general Unicamp student pop.• More black/pardos than in the SP population (even more than in the Campinas pop.)


What’s next in Brazil: more challenges


• It’s clear not enough is being done across the board in terms of access and equity in Brazil, especially if quality is brought into the picture

• Brazil’s HE system is plagued by governance issues, including the public sector

• Brazil’s public HE system is not as efficient as could be, student/faculty ratio is in the low 10s

• Federal system is quite unequal in most aspects, from financing to academic qualifications

• Still, it is much better qualified than the private sector

• The not-for-profit sector is disappearing, now more than 2/3 of the private sector is for-profit

• Most recent growth is happening in the less qualified part of the private sector, including strategic areas like engineering

• Very recently, most growth is in distance learning, with dubious quality and usually low efficiency


Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

Thank you!

Renato H. L. Pedrosa

[email protected]

http://www.gr.unicamp.br/ceav/english/index.phphttp://www.revistaensinosuperior.gr.unicamp.br/

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.revistaensinosuperior.gr.unicamp.br/






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Access to higher education in Brazil: t he challenges of quality and equity

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