About the End of Free Public Higher Education in Brazil

Abstract

This article discusses free public higher education in Brazil. First, it contextualizes the topic and then systematizes the arguments in favor of charging tuition fees, justifying them in the light of empirical evidence and concepts used to support those arguments. In the same analysis, it presents counterpoints to the arguments raised and briefly discusses ideological and financial interests that call for the end of free public higher education.

Expansão do ensino lucrativo e retração das instituições sem fins lucrativos no ensino superior brasileiro

“…Como ressaltam alguns pesquisadores, as mudanças verificadas tanto no âmbito da regulamentação como do financiamento do setor privado não ocorreram sem a atuação de organismos multilaterais internacionais, o mais destacado é o Banco Mundial (Almeida, 2019;Kallo, 2018;Oliveira, 2009). Os empréstimos aos grupos educacionais brasileiros realizados pelo International Finance Corporation (IFC), membro do Grupo Banco Mundial que busca fomentar o mercado privado em países subdesenvolvidos, são aportes vultosos que distanciam significativamente, em termos de capacidade financeira, esses grupos das IES sem fins lucrativos.…”

Privatization and geographic inequalities in the distribution and expansion of higher nursing education in Brazil

“…When considering quality of teaching, studies also indicate that the significant increase in private higher education presents a mismatch between quality and quantity, in the understanding that the modality of public education, especially federal universities, always performs better than private ones (14,21,29) . Moreover, although there are some elite private universities, in general private HEIs serve a mass clientele that is not always seen as prestigious, as, in part, it offers access to students who have not successfully entered public educational institutions and operate in mostly as a business model based on the logic of immediate profit, in which professors have little influence and students are seen as consumers (21,29) . This directly affects the innovation and qualification of these trained professionals and as a result perpetuates the dominance of profitable private universities of low quality.…”