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

Workshop on Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective Higher School of Economics Moscow, April 19-20, 2012. Access to higher education in Brazil: t he challenges of quality and equity . Renato H. L. Pedrosa Deputy Head, Center of Advanced Studies

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

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  1. Workshop on Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective Higher School of Economics Moscow, April 19-20, 2012 Access to higher education in Brazil: the challenges of quality and equity Renato H. L. Pedrosa Deputy Head, Center ofAdvancedStudies Coordinator, GroupofStudies in HigherEducation

  2. Outline • Overview ofBrazilianhighereducation system • A bit ofhistory: 1960-2010 • Access: nationalvs local systems • Access: standardizedtestsvs ? • The challengeofequity: race/ethnicityand SES • The challengeofqualityvsquantity: engineeringprograms • The challengeofequityvsquality: Prouni (federal program) • The challengeofequity+quantity: theTechnologicalColleges, São Paulo • The challengeofquality+equity: Unicamp’sprograms • What’snext in Brazil: more challenges Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  3. Higher education in Brazil, 2010 • Area: 8.5 millionsq km Population: 192 million • GDP = U$ 2.6 trillion (U$13,500 GDP/capita) • HigherEducation • 2,378 institutions (278 public) • 190 universities (101 public) 6.3 millionundergradstudentsenrolled • 5.4 million in presentialprograms • 76% ofenrollments in theprivate system • 50% in for-profitinstitutions • Net enrollmentratio (18-24 age cohort): 15% • Gross enrollmentratio: 27% • Federal system • 58 universities, 37 TechnologicalInstitutesand 4 Colleges • 930,000 undergraduatestudents • 820,000 in presential programas • 15% of total undergraduateenrollment Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  4. Highereducation in thestateof São Paulo • 22% oftheBrazilianpopulation: 41 million • 33% ofBazilian GDP = U$ 850 billion (U$21,000 GDP/capita) • HigherEducation • 26% ofallenrollment = 1.63 million (1.47 million in presentialprograms) • 32% ofgraduatingclass: 260,000 of 830,000 total • Net enrollmentratio: 18% (34% grossenrollmentratio) • 86% in privateHEIs (3/4 ofthose in for-profitHEIs) • Small federal participation, only 1.5% ofenrollment • StatePublic HE system • Best university system in Brazil • 3 universities, 28 campi, 120,000 undergraduatestudents, 50,000 graduatestudents • 52 StateTechnicalColleges (FATECs), 55,000 students • But still, only 14% ofallenrollmentis in publicHEIs Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  5. HE in Brazil 1960-1994 • 1960: about 140,000 studentsenrolled in HE • 1980: numberhadgrowntoabout 1.4 million (+900%) • 1980-1994: • Longestperiodofeconomicstagnation in Brazil’srepublicanhistory • Little development in HE, publicorprivate • Enrollment in 1994 = 1.7 million (+21%) Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  6. HE in Brazil 1995-2010 • Economicgrowth • Expansionofprivate sector • New National Law ofEducation (1996) • New paths for diversificationof system • Deregulation • Universalizationofbasiceducation (1st-8th grades) andincreaseofnumberofsecondaryeducationgraduates (thoughthathasstagnatedrecently) • HE enrollment in 2010: 6.3 million (+270% over 1994 figure) • BUT: mostgrowthwas in theprivate sector, mostly in the for-profitsybsector Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  7. Undergraduate enrollment in presential programs, 1980-2010 Census of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Brazil Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  8. Access: nationalvs local systems • Upto 2009, BrazilianHEIsdevelopedtheirownadmission systems • Vestibular (non-standardized oral/written/MC examinations) • Nat’l Ed Law-NEL of 1968 requiredHEIsto use vestibular • With new Nat’l Ed. Law-NEL (1996), HEIshadfreedomtochoosemethodology, butallselectiveuniversitieskepttothe vestibular tradition • 1998: MinistryofEducation-ME starts High SchoolNationalExam (ENEM) (non-standardized, writtenessay + 68 MC items, 4hr test) • 1998-2008: manyHEIs start to use ENEM as partoftheiradmission systems • 2009: ME changes ENEM andestablishes a nationaladmissions system (SISU) • Standardized via IRT • WE + 180 MC items, 2-day test(total = 9hrs) • SISU allows for applicantstochooseamongallparticipantHEIs • Many federal HEIsadoptedthe system, butnotthemostselective Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  9. Access: standardizedvs ? • Vestibular still enjoys a strong appeal • Credibility: no securityissuesat more selectiveHEIs • Perceived as “just” (“same for all”) • Meritocratic: score isindicationofpresent performance • Admissionis a “prize” for that performance • Score usuallyassumed as goodpredictorof future performance • ENEM, althoughstandardized, lacksamecredibiliy, duetosecurityissuesthathaveplaguededitionssince 2009 • Researchindicatesstandardizedtestshavelimitations, may show bias againstcertaingroups (minorities, women) andthat HS grades andotherapplicants’ characteristicsmay play a relevant role in predicting future academic performance • SAT and later performance (J. Soares, W. Bowen et al) • SAT andgender (U Cal studies) • Brazil: Unicamp studyaboutvestibular,later performance, SES andgender (Pedrosa et al) • Veryfewalternative systems; affirmativeaction comes as some sortofremedy for perceived “elitism” ofpure Vestibular/Enem systems Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  10. The challengeofequity: race/ethnicityand 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 Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

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

  12. The challengeofqualityvsquantity: engineeringprograms • 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 Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  13. The challengeofequity+quantity: theStateTechnologicalColleges, São Paulo • Started in 1969, butonly in thelast 10 yearshasseenexpressivegrowth • Offers 3-year programswithdirect links tojobmarket (butalso in some traditionalareas, liketechnicalhealth training) • Spreadedacrossthestate, each campus offersprogramsrelatedtothe local economy • Stateinvestmenthasgrown 5-fold in the Fatec system from 2005 to 2010 • No cuts in thestateuniversities’ budgets • Employability 1 yearaftergraduation: 92% • Some programsreach 96% or more: construction, information systems • Averagemonthlysalary 1 yearaftergraduation • $1,500 • About 75% ofaveragesalary in traditionalacademiccareers in Brazil • More thanwages in some traditionalacademicdegrees • Follows OECD countries’ average Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

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

  15. The challengeofquality+equity: Unicamp’sprograms 1. General affirmativeactionprogram - 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 Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  16. MedIcalSchool/UNICAMP 2003-2004: 11 studentscomingfrompublicschools - 10% 2005: 33 studentscomingfrompublicschools – 30% 2003-2004: 5 blacks/pardos 2005: 11 blacks/pardos Ranking with extra points Ranking without extra points Ranking at end of 4th year Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  17. The challengeofquality+equity: Unicamp’sprograms 2. Best studentsprogram - 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.) Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  18. What’snext 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 Pedrosa Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

  19. Thankyou! Renato H. L. Pedrosa renato.pedrosa@reitoria.unicamp.br http://www.gr.unicamp.br/ceav/english/index.php http://www.revistaensinosuperior.gr.unicamp.br/ Equity in Higher Education: the International Perspective - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, April 19-20, 2012

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