INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
International Academic Partnership Program Brazil Study Tour 2014
Fulbright Brazil
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul – Porto Alegre – Brazil
April, 2, 2014
Higher Education in Rio Grande do Sul.
Clarissa Eckert Baeta Neves1
Bruno Morche2
The system of higher education in Brazil and Rio Grande do Sul: main
characteristics3
Higher education in the Brazilian southernmost State Rio Grande do Sul sets
forward a scenario and a transformation process that follows the national pattern. The
transformations of higher education (HE) in Brazil in recent decades, especially
concerning how demand is created, and the consequent institutional responses, bring
us to a few basic characteristics of the system: a) the coexistence of the private and
public segments in higher education; b) the qualitative prominence of the federal
system (and the one of some State systems) in the ensemble of Brazilian HE; c) the
strong concentration, in the Ministry of Education, of the prerogatives to formulate
policies, supervise, control and evaluate not only the federal but also the private
systems; d) the weak differentiation of HE offerings as far as academic options are
concerned; and e) the model of funding that commits higher education institutions
(HEIs) to the expansion of enrollments and obliges social inclusion.
Higher education in Rio Grande do Sul: main characteristics
1. Types of higher education institution
1
Associate Professor in the Department and Graduate Program of Sociology at the Federal University
of Rio Grande do Sul. E-mail: [email protected]
2
PhD student at the Graduate Program in Sociology at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Email: [email protected]
3
The authors would like to thank Prof. Gerhard Jacob for the review and the suggestions in the text.
Public and private HEIs vary according to their administrative status and
academic organization. Public institutions can be established and maintained by the
national (federal), state and municipal governments, and are considered part of the
public service. Private institutions can be community-based, denominational,
philanthropic and for-profit.
Community institutions appeared at the end of the 1980s, as a specific model
of university, characterized as “public, non-state”, strongly connected with the local
and regional communities. Denominational institutions are maintained by religious
organizations and are also philanthropic, the most important being the Catholic
universities. Until 1999, all private institutions were supposed to be non-profit,
although in fact some of them were not. In 1999 the government introduced
legislation (Law 9,870 of 23/11/1999), authorizing private institutions to declare
themselves institutions aiming at profit, submitted to the commercial law regarding
fiscal, para-fiscal and labor charges; i.e. they become liable as commercial entities.
Those who remained non-profit, and entitled to tax exemption, had to demonstrate
that they were in fact philanthropic.
2. Academic organization
In terms of academic organization, HEIs encompass four categories:
universities, university centers 4 technological institutes and non-university higher
education institutions. Universities are required to carry out research, undergraduate
and graduate teaching and extramural activities.
From hereon the discussion is restricted to our state of Rio Grande do Sul. We
have 10 public HEIs – 6 federal universities, 1 state university and 3 federal
technological institutes. And 105 private HEIs – 2 denominational and 9 community
Universities; 5 university centers and 88 non-university higher education institutions,
all private.
4
University Center is a higher education institution whose main function is undergraduate teaching,
where none or little research is performed, consequently few graduate courses exist, but with autonomy
to create new courses in its respective areas.
2
Figure 1: Number of higher education institutions by academic organization and
administrative status in Rio Grande do Sul (2012).5
105
88
10
Total
7
12
0
Universities
5
University
Centers
Public
3
0
Other HE
Institutions
0
Federal
Technological
Institutes
Private
Source: INEP/MEC (2012)
Table 1. Number of higher education institutions by academic organization and
administrative status in Rio Grande do Sul (2012).
Universities
Public
Higher
Education
Institutions
University
Centres
Federal
Technological
Institutes
Federal
6
0
0
3
State
1
0
0
0
Denominational
2
3
Community
9
1
1
1
41
0
19
5
88
3
Philantropic
Private
For profit
Total
47
0
0
Source: INEP/MEC (2012)
While the public sector remained limited in size because of its high costs and
stronger academic requirements, the private sector expanded rapidly in response to
growing market demand. Currently, our state has 115 HEIs, which are very different
one from each other. Only 10 of them are public, the other 105 are private. Public
institutions are organized as universities (7) or technological institutes (3). In the
private sector, there is a large variety, with a small number of large universities (12)
and university centers (5) and a large number of small, non-university HEIs (88).
5
Figures and Tables were translated by the authors.
3
3. Undergraduate education
The total of enrollments in undergraduate education in our state is 369.573.
Out of the total enrollments 77% are in the private sector. The distribution of these
enrollments by type of institution is as follows: 69% at universities; 9,3% at university
centers; and 27 % at non-universities HEIs.
Figure 2: Undergraduate Enrollments by academic organization and administrative status in
Rio Grande do Sul (2012)
285.519
178.201
84.054
78.175
72.613
34.705
0
Total
Universities
0
University
Centers
Public
Other HE
Institutions
5.879
0
Federal
Technological
Institutes
Private
Source: INEP/MEC (2012)
It is worth highlighting the intense growth, in the last few years, of enrollment
in distance undergraduate courses (19% distant enrollment) and in technological
courses 2.1%.
In the expansion of higher education, characterized by the growing presence of
private institutions, one of the main patterns has been a strong emphasis in the
offering of courses that cost less to implement, namely, Applied Social Sciences.
These courses can be catalogued as “generic”. Bachelors in these fields can work at
different jobs, such as management, human resources, etc.
4
Figure 3: Enrollments in undergraduate studies by fields of education (2012).
Source: INEP/MEC (2012)
The preferential choice for areas that lead to an independent profession, in
Applied Social Science in undergraduate studies, appears as a polyvalent resource,
favoring the perception that in this way, many doors in the labor market can be
opened, in the context of a services society, like Brazil. Already in graduate programs
there is a concentration of enrollment in fields, like Science, Engineering and Health.
One reason for this is that these fields were, since the beginning, structured as
research and graduate programs and have always been a priority in governmental
policies and public investments aiming at the scientific and technological
development of the country.
4. Graduate education
Graduate education, comprising master and doctoral programs have also been
growing, although at a lower pace. Currently there are 312 graduate programs, 195 at
public HEIs and 117 at private HEIs.
104 are only Master Programs; 3 only
Doctorate Programs; 166 Master and Doctorate Programs, and 39 are professional
masters programs.
5
Table 2. Number of graduate programs by degree and administrative status in Rio Grande do
Sul (2012).
Source: CAPES (2013)
Figure 4: Number of Graduate courses by fields of education (2012).
Source: CAPES (2013)
The majority of graduate programs are in the area of Humanities (52),
followed by programs in Health Sciences and Applied Social Sciences.
Table 3: Graduate Enrollments by degree in Rio Grande do Sul (2012)
Source: CAPES (2013)
In Master Programs the number of enrollments is 10,311 and in Doctorate
Programs, 7,390. In contradistinction to undergraduate studies, these courses take
place mostly in public federal HEIs, which show 62% of the enrollment.
6
Figure 6 shows a comparison between enrollment and the number of
scholarships granted by a large area of knowledge. It is worth mentioning the
performance in agro sciences, a strategic area for the State of RS. This area shows 35
programs, occupies the fourth position as far as enrollments are concerned, but
concentrates the largest number of fellowships.
Figure 6: Enrollments and scholarships in graduate studies by fields of education
(2012).
Source: CAPES (2013)
Out of the total, 51 graduate Programs were evaluated with the score6 6 and 7.
17 Graduate Programs were evaluated with the highest score 7; 137 of them belong to
the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul; 1 (Chemistry) to the Federal University
of Santa Maria (UFSM) and 1 (Epidemiology) to the Federal University of Pelotas
(UFPel). 2 Programs with score 7 are from private universities (PUCRS - Medicine
and Unisinos - Education).
5
These scores refer to a periodical evaluation, internationally recognized, performed by CAPES (a
governmental institution which fosters undergraduate and graduate education); scores range from 0
(worst) to 7 (best).
7
Computation, Physics, Earth Sciences, Chemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Civil
Engineering, Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Pharmacy, Psychiatry, Anthropology,
Sociology, Psychology and Music.
7
5. Science Without Borders Program
Internationalization is a subject that is gaining increasing relevance both for
public and for private HEIs. Internationalization is used as an instrument that makes a
difference in the outlook for teaching as well as for research. Cooperation agreements,
as well as initiatives to participate in national and international nets, multiply
themselves. In this respect the program Science Without Borders has been of
uttermost importance.
Indeed, governmental actions are committed to expand the economic sectors
aiming at modernization, enabling an increase of the national potential for
technological innovation, in order to strengthen the overall competitiveness of the
country. This has been accompanied by measures to stimulate the formation of human
resources in science and technology that are considered strategic at this stage of the
development. In this direction, the government launched in 2012 the Science Without
Borders Program.
This program aims to support in the next four (now three) years 100,000
students, undergraduates to doctoral, as well as post-doctoral fellows and researchers
in the fields of hard sciences, engineering and health, for training and qualification
activities abroad. It also intends to stimulate the attraction of high-level post-docs and
researchers from overseas to strengthen HEIs and national research institutions in
these areas.
The State of RS has been contemplated with 4,247 fellowships, which means
the fourth place in number of students sent abroad within the program behind USP,
UFMG, and UFRJ. The areas that show the highest figures are engineering and other
technological fields, followed by biology, biomedicine and health sciences.
Undergraduate students have been awarded the largest number of fellowships (78%)
and the majority of them belong to the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. As
for the host countries, the US has received 871 students, the largest number, followed
by the United Kingdom (492) Canada (381), France (335) and Germany (325), etc.
8
Figure 7: “Science Without Borders” scholarships by fields in Rio Grande do Sul
(2012).
Engineering and other technological areas
Biology and Health Sciences
Creative Industries
Exact and Earth Sciences
Computation and IT
Sustainable Agriculture
Biotechnology
Uninformed
Pharmacon
Sea Sciences
Renewable energy
Biodiversity and Brioprospecting
New technology of Construction Engineering
Nanotechnology and new materials
Oil, Gas and Mineral Coal
1.523
851
365
326
302
205
152
133
83
60
55
44
37
34
31
Source: CAPES (2013b)
Figure 8: “Science Without Borders” scholarships by university in Rio grande do
Sul (2012).
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
1.486
Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM)
558
Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)
434
Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL)
383
Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG)
228
University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS)
194
Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)
170
University of Caxias do Sul (UCS)
140
University of Passo Fundo (UPF)
70
Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA)
69
Source: CAPES (2013b)
6. INCTs - National Institutes of Science and Technology
This program aims to promote the best research groups in the frontier areas of
science and in the strategic areas for the sustainable development of the country; and
also to meet international scientific standards in research and to promote innovation
and an entrepreneurial spirit in close cooperation with innovative companies. Special
emphasis is given to consortia of several research institutions, in particular from
different Brazilian States.
In Rio Grande do Sul we have 9 INCTs.
9
Table 4. National Institutes of Science and Technology in the State of Rio Grande do
Sul
INSTITUTO
INCT de Toxicologia Aquática
INCT em Tuberculose
INCT para Excitoxicidade e Neuroproteção
INCT para Avaliação de Tecnologias em Saúde
INCT Translacional em Medicina
INCT da Criosfera
Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Mar Centro de Oceanografia Integrada (INCTMar COI)
INCT de Hormônios e Saúde da Mulher
INCT de Genética Médica Populacional
Instituição
FURG
PUC/RS
UFRGS
UFRGS
UFRGS
UFRGS
FURG
UFRGS
HCPA
Source: CNPq (Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development). http://www.cnpq.br/
7. Cooperation agreements
Most universities have international co-operation agreements. Shown here are
the examples of UFRGS and PUCRS that you will visit. There are three stages of cooperation: the first one is the person-to-person exchange; the second one is the signing
of a protocol like a letter of intentions/memorandum of understanding; the third stage
is the formalization of an agreement.
Just as an example:
Table 5. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) cooperation agreements
with US universities.
Institution
01 - Texas A&M University
Escola de Engenharia
02 - Texas A&M University
Escola de Engenharia
03 - Universidade da Flórida
Faculdade de Agronomia
04 - Universidade de Illinois
Instituto de Psicologia
05 - Universidade de Clark
Instituto de Biociências
06 - Teaching Hospital of Harvard Medical School
Faculdade de Medicina
07 - Louisiana State University
Instituto de Geociências
08 - University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
CINTED
09 - Brown University
PROPG
10 - George Mason University
Instituto de Psicologia
11 - Stanford University
Faculdade de Educação
10
12 - Universidade de Wisconsin - Madison
RELINTER
13 - Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
ICBS
14 - Universidade da Califórnia em Berkeley
Escola de Administração
15 - Universidade do Texas em El Paso, Canisius College
Escola de Administração
16 - University of Texas em Austin
RELINTER
17 - University of Massachusetts Amrhest
RELINTER
18 - University of Connecticut
IFCH
19 - The Ohio State University
CINTED
20 - North Dakota State University
Faculdade de Agronomia
Source: UFRGS (2014)
Table 6. Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) cooperation agreements
with US universities.
Institutions
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY – ASU
BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
BROWN UNIVERSITY
FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTORS
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY - NYFA
SMILE TRAIN
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - UCLA
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA - UCF
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA CHAMPAIGN - UIUC
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS - UNLV
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO - USF
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY
Source: PUCRS (2014)
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8. Final remarks
Internationalization is presently a mandatory activity for the HEIs all over
Brazil. It takes for granted professionalism and clear aims in the management of the
different aspects involved in intensifying mobility of professors, researchers and
students. This subject is being duly considered by the HEIs in the State of Rio Grande
do Sul and its importance is steadily increasing in three aspects: (a) modernization of
undergraduate teaching with a view towards innovation in the education of
professionals; (b) amplification of research outlooks; and (c) needs to develop
organizational really effective structures that enable this process to become efficient
and gratifying for all involved.
Co-operation with North American Universities and Colleges represent a
unique opportunity for our Universities, offering a substantial institutional growth in
all these dimensions. On the other hand, our institutions encompass highly qualified
research groups and graduate programs and are definitely interested in a strong
international insertion.
References
CAPES/MEC (2013). Geocapes Estatísticas. http://www.capes.gov.br/estatisticas. Acessed 25
March 2014.
CAPES/MEC
(2013b).
Programa
Ciências
http://www.cienciasemfronteiras.gov.br/ Acessed 21 March 2014
sem
fronteiras.
INEP/MEC. Censo da Educação Superior – Divulgação dos Principais Resultados do Censo
da Educação Superior 2012. http://www.inep.gov.br/superior/censosuperior. Accessed 24
March 2014.
INEP/MEC(2012). Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio
Teixeira/Ministério da Educação. Sinopse da Educação Superior. Brasília: INEP/Ministério
da Educação.
PUCRS (2014). Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. http://www.pucrs.br.
Acessed 24 March 2014.
UFRGS (2014). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. http://www.ufrgs.br Acessed 24
March 2014.
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