Higher education
18 Nov 2010
On this page
- Short description of the higher education system
- Types of degrees
- Quality assurance and accreditation
- Recent reforms
Short description of the higher education system
Brazil has three types of higher education institutions: universities (universidades), university centres (centros universitários) and faculties (faculdades). Any of these can be public or private institutions.
The public institutions charge no tuition fees and are categorized according to their administration: federal institutions are administered by the federal government through the Ministry of Education (Ministerio da Educação, MEC), state institutions are administered by the state government and municipal institutions are administered by the city governments.
Types of degrees
Undergraduate students at Brazilian universities normally graduate with either a Bacharel degree (equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in the USA) or a professional degree. Bacharel degrees are awarded in most fields of study in the arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and natural sciences and normally take four years to complete.
Professional degrees are awarded in state-regulated professions such as architecture, engineering, psychology and medicine, and are designated for the particular profession. Professional degrees are generally regarded as being of a higher social standard and more academically demanding than Bacharel degrees.
Licenciatura are the qualification required by school teachers. Licenciatura courses are offered mainly in mathematics, humanities and natural sciences.
Those holding a Bacharel degree, professional diploma or Licenciatura are eligible for admission to graduate courses leading to advanced master’s or doctorate degrees. Master’s (mestrado) programmes normally take two years to complete and are classified into academic master’s and professional master’s degrees.
Master’s titles in Brazil normally designate the field of study in which they were awarded. Doctorate degrees (doutorado) usually require four additional years of full-time study and are a higher qualification than master’s degrees.
A small number of Brazilian universities, most notably the public universities in the state of São Paulo, still award the title of Livre-Docente (free docent), which is a higher level degree than a doctorate and is awarded, similar to the German Habilitation, based on the submission of a second (original or cumulative) thesis and approval in a Livre-Docência examination that includes giving a public lecture before a panel of full professors.
Quality assurance and accreditation
All higher education institutions in Brazil, private and public, are regulated by the Ministry of Education. Only authorized institutions and courses are allowed to operate in Brazil. The Ministry of Education also play an important role in assessing the quality of higher education.
The commission responsible for evaluating graduation courses in Brazil is CONAES (Comissão Nacional de Avaliação do Ensino Superior, or Higher Education Evaluation Commission). This commission developed a national evaluation system for higher education known as SINEAS (Sistema Nacional de Avaliação do Ensino Superior), which works on the basis of institutional self-assessment, external institutional assessment, evaluation of study conditions and the ENADE (National Students Accomplishment Examination).
The Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educasionais (INEP, National Institute for Research and Education) is an independent organization that collects, evaluates and manages information on all aspects of the Brazilian education system. Accreditation of post-academic courses and university research funding are charged to the Coordenação de aperfeiçoamento de pessoa de nível superior (CAPES).
Recent reforms
The Brazilian education system has its roots in the 1988 constitution and in the 1996 Lei de Diretrizes e Bases Educação Nacional (LDB) – a law outlining the regulations and basis for the national education system. Higher education falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and, in particular, of the department of higher education (Secretaria de Educação Superior, SESU).
The 1996 LDB was implemented under a National ten-year Education Plan, which included a number of measures aimed at ensuring better education for everyone, improvements to educational instruments, a reduction of social and regional differences and democratization of university management, all by 2010. Another goal was to increase participation in higher education from 12% to 30%. Amongst the measures effected on the basis of the education plan was the implementation of a binary system at all levels of education.
More information on the higher education system in Brazil, degrees and quality assurance mechanisms is available on the Nuffic Neso Brazil website.
