Does Brazil need public universities? – 01/09/2023 – I am Science

Anachronistic discussions, such as those promoted around PEC 206/2019, currently in the CCJC of the Chamber of Deputies, which “determines that public universities should charge student fees”, often resurrect the debate:

Should the State invest in public higher education or is it up to the private sector?

The author of the PEC, a former federal deputy who was from the PSL/SP in 2019 and who was not elected in 2022, justified his proposal based on the following statement: “… the majority of students at these universities end up coming from private schools and they could pay the monthly fee”, which obviously does not correspond to reality, and, as Minister Flávio Dino would say, “is more or less part of the same mental continent as those who think the Earth is flat”.

According to data from the V National Survey on the socioeconomic profile of IFES graduates, in 2018, more than 70% of students had an income per capita less than 1.5 minimum wage. Undoubtedly, this is one of the salutary effects of the Quota Law, which has helped to democratize access to public higher education. But other arguments reinforce the importance of the State in the provision of Higher Education.

According to Census of Higher Education (Censup) data, in 2021 Brazil had 8,987,120 enrollments at this level, 6,908,214 (76.9%) enrollments in private institutions and 2,078,906 (23.1%) in public institutions. And before the voices of the past rise up to say that we have excessive enrollment in higher education, and that the “… University should, in fact, be for the few…” as stated by the then Minister of Education in the Bolsonaro government , it is always necessary to remember that in 2021 Brazil had not yet reached ¾ of the target set out in the National Education Plan (Target 12). Data recorded that in Brazil only 21% of adults had completed an undergraduate course, while the average for OECD countries is 41%.

Most Brazilian HEIs are private, equivalent to 2,261 (87.8%) against 313 (12.2%) public (federal, state or municipal). However, few universities – which are organized on the basis of the ‘teaching-research-extension’ tripod – are subject to greater demands with a direct impact on the quality of teaching. Most Brazilian university-type institutions are public. Figure 01 shows this difference.

A significant part of the Public HEIs and undertake, under the terms presented by the MEC, to invest in “institutionalized intellectual production through the systematic study of the most relevant themes and problems, both from a scientific and cultural point of view, as well as a regional and national one“. In the case of Private HEIs, only 91 are Universities (4.02%).

Regarding the qualification of the teaching staff, in private HEIs, approximately 30% have a doctorate degree, while in public ones this index exceeds 70%.

From the point of view of distribution across the national territory, there are institutions in 1,082 municipalities (19.4%) out of the 5,570 existing ones. This means that in 80.6% of the municipalities, where more than 59 million inhabitants resided, in 2021 there was no public or private higher education offer. In 260 municipalities there were only private HEIs and in 334 only public ones. It is noteworthy that in municipalities where there were only public ones, the number of inhabitants was 35.3% lower than in municipalities where there was only provision by private HEIs.

This data shows that the distribution of public facilities follows the logic of the needs of the territories and their productive arrangements, while the logic of private facilities is the financial return when deciding to implement new units.

Regarding relevance in Research and Development processes, according to data from the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), in 2020, among the ten largest depositors of invention patents, nine were Public Universities. On the other hand, the ranking prepared by INPI did not show any private HEI among the 50 largest depositors.

Regarding funding, the Brazilian State fully finances enrollment in public schools, but also finances part of enrollment in the private sector. According to Censup/2021 data, a total of 2,646,403 enrollments in private institutions were financed by mechanisms such as FIES, ProUni and other types of student financing.

This data is impressive. The Brazilian State finances more enrollments in private HEIs (2.646 million) than in public HEIs (2.078 million). It is the strength of the lobby exercised in the formulation of public higher education policy in Brazil and highlights the importance of the State for the survival of the private sector: of the 6.9 million enrollments offered in private institutions, 38.3% (2.6 million) are financed with public resources.

One of the essential conditions for the sustained development of Brazil is the presence of quality public higher education institutions committed to society. They are responsible for most of the country’s scientific, technological and cultural production, in addition to offering education and development opportunities for millions of Brazilians, especially in the poorest regions. Without them, higher education would be restricted to a segment of private institutions that aim only at profit, that do not contribute to innovation, that do not carry out university extension actions and that do not meet social and regional demands. Many of these private institutions do not reinvest resources in education, but treat the education sector as a business, and explore higher education as a source of income in the private sphere. We can’t compact with that!

With the collaboration of Weber Tavares da Silva Jr.

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