Ministerial Systems of Higher Education: Brazil

Brazil is one of the largest countries in the world, with a territory of 8.5 million square kilometers and a population of over 200 million. The 2016 data from the annual census of Brazilian higher education shows that more than 8 million students attended undergraduate programs that year, while 126,000 were enrolled in master’s programs, and 108,000 were enrolled in a doctoral program.

In Brazil, a huge demand-driven private sector accounts for more than 76% of the enrollments at the undergraduate level. At the graduate level, the public sector is the main provider, answering for 82% of the enrollments at master’s and doctoral programs. Admission to public universities is more selective and can be very competitive in fields such as medicine, engineering, or law but is ...