Vacant Seats: contradictions to the expansion of access to federal universities in Brazil

Abstract

The article analyzes the effects of changes in the minimum admission scores via SiSU in filling seats offered in Pedagogy courses at Brazilian federal universities, between 2010 and 2017. The results show that the mismatch between the level of demand in admission processes and the performance of registered applicants may prevent access to public universities when an expansion of around one million seats is still a promise of the Brazilian National Education Plan 2014-2024. Paradoxically, the almost univocal defense of the democratization of access to higher education in Brazil is not always accompanied in universities by an internal debate that considers the complexity of the admission processes and establishes criteria to minimize the generation of vacant seats.