Distance higher education in Brazil.
Jul 01, 2010
The number of students engaging in higher education distance programs in Brazil is rapidly growing. Between 2007 and 2008 alone (the latest year of which data available) the number of students in distance undergraduate programs almost doubled to 761.000, summing 13% of the total amount of students in Brazilian undergraduate education in 2008. The large geographic distances in Brazil and also the difficult and limited access - due to a high demand and a relatively small offer - into presential undergraduate courses seem to trigger a segment of the market to choose for distance learning in higher education.
The number of students engaging in higher education distance programs in Brazil is rapidly growing. Between 2007 and 2008 alone (the latest year of which data available) the number of students in distance undergraduate programs almost doubled to 761.000, summing 13% of the total amount of students in Brazilian undergraduate education in 2008. The large geographic distances in Brazil and also the difficult and limited access - due to a high demand and a relatively small offer - into presential undergraduate courses seem to trigger a segment of the market to choose for distance learning in higher education. And there is another stimulus; the price. A traditional undergraduate course at a private institution will cost a student in average around 450 Reais (200 Euro) per month for tuition fee only, while a at distance program costs in average 160 Reais (70 Euro) tuition fee a month. The interested segment consists mainly of lower income class Brazilians and Brazilians over 30 who already are working and are living with their families in more remote areas. The president of the Brazilian Association for Distance Education (ABED), Frederico Litto, sees a bright future for his branch and estimates a minimum growth of 20% per year. Currently Brazil is one of the countries with the largest offer in distance education. And Brazil takes up its leading role; in October 2010 Brazil will host the first international guiding seminar on Virtual Higher Education with speakers from Latin-America, United States and England. The growing market in Brazil also attracts foreign investors such as Laureate and Apollo Global. The president of the Apollo Group denominates Brazil as a priority, not only for its size but for its people´s ability to adapt to new technologies. The other way around, Brazil´s largest distance education institution, Eadcon(with 140.000 students) starts to expand abroad this year. Colombia is the first country to operate in, to be followed by other Latin-American countries. The ministry of Education in Brazil, responsible for quality assurance and validation of all higher education courses, follows the rapid growth up close. In 2007 the Ministry demanded that the distance education institutions should offer computers and libraries at their education meeting points, places where students can go to take away doubts by talking to a professor personally. With all quality requirements are met, there seems no stop in the growth of distance education in Brazil as one of the solutions for the growing demand in higher education.
Nuffic Neso Brazil / Remon Daniel Boef
Sources:
Folha de São Paulo online, 11 Aug. 2009, http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/educacao/ult305u607993.shtml