ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the evolution of higher education in Brazil, and analyses the proposals for its reform. It examines the financing of higher education in Brazil, and the efficiency and equity issues. Enrollment growth in the 1970s favoured private institutions and most of the expansion was absorbed by private non-university establishments. Undergraduate studies in private institutions are financed by tuition. There is a price control on tuition so as to keep its increase within the inflation rate. In the 1980s, the economic crisis lead to a substantial decline in the real resources of the universities. The combination of home resources and school resources is the major determinant of the number of years of schooling achieved previous to higher education. Autonomy, as defended by the association of teachers, required elections for all important positions of the university. An improvement in the equity problem requires that more students from poor families complete secondary education and have access to good-quality subsidized higher education.
