THE EVALUATION AND REGULATION OF FOR-PROFIT HIGHER EDUCATION IN BRAZIL: IMPLICATIONS FOR SINAES

Abstract

Legalized in 1997, for-profit offerings now dominate the private higher education sector in Brazil. Data from the National Higher Education Census reveal that in 2017 there existed 1,153 for- profit institutions in Brazil, accounting for 53.6% of all private-sector higher education establishments and for 43.4% of all higher education enrollments in the country. Using both Brazilian data and findings from the international literature, this study discusses the for-profit phenomenon in terms of three dimensions – access, ethics and quality – and their implications for Brazil’s National System of Higher Education Evaluation (SINAES). With respect to access, it is clear that for-profit offerings serve to expand higher education opportunity, especially for those who work and/or come from low-income families. On the other hand, the reliance on public student loans, the resulting student indebtedness, and a tendency to use unethical practices to recruit students and promote profits, as emphasized in the international literature, suggest that the segment requires close monitoring on a national scale. However, despite the negative consequences of the for-profit motive, preliminary analyses reveal that there is little difference between for-profits and non-profits with respect to the quality indicators (IGC and CPC) used within the context of SINAES. Based in these findings, the article concludes by arguing that the evaluation and regulation of higher education in Brazil, via the improvement of SINAES, should give greater attention to institutional transparency, student recruitment and selection, and the problem of student indebtedness. Although these suggestions are especially relevant for the for-profit sector, they also apply to higher education as a whole, since all of the country’s higher education institutions must meet national standards of quality