Universities
Oct 09, 2009
Brazil has more than four million students and has more than 2000 higher education institutions.
There are more than two thousand Higher Education Institutions (HEI´s) in Brazil. These Institutions are divided in three different types:
- Universities (Universidades): According to the Brazilian law, Universities are multi-disciplinary institutions of: professional staff training in Higher Education; research and extension; domain and stimulation of human knowledge. The Universities are obligated to invest in formation and research, they are autonomous and one third of the professors must have a Master´s or Doctor´s degree.
- University Centres (Centros Universitários): University Centres are multi-curricular Institutions, including one or more areas of knowledge, characterized by excellence in education and high-quality academic environment. The University Centres are not obligated to invest in research and are almost as autonomous as the Universities.
- Faculties (Faculdades): Faculties are High Education Institutions of professional staff training in Higher Education in one or more areas of knowledge. Faculties are not as autonomous as University Centres or Universities and are not obligated to invest in research.
Any of these types can be Public or Private Institutions. The Public Institutions are tuition free and divided in types, according to their administration:
- Federal Institutions: Higher Education Institutions administrated by the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Education.
- State Institutions: Higher Education Institutions administrated by the State Government.
- Municipal Institutions: Higher Education Institutions administrated by the City Government.
According to INEP (National Institute of Educational Research and Studies), 75% of the Brazilian Higher Education Students are enrolled in Private Institutions.