Brazil: Higher Education

Higher Education

Overview

Information on key aspects of a country’s education system, including governance, instructional language, and other structural features defined by national or regional regulations.

Ministry Responsible

Ministry of Education (MEC, Ministério da Educação), Secretariat of Higher Education (SESU, Secretaria de Educação Superior)

Language of Instruction

Portuguese

Academic Calendar

2 semesters (semestres or períodos) (16 to 20 weeks each)

First semester: February to June

Second semester: August to December

Quality Assurance and Accreditation

The principal quality assurance and accreditation bodies.

No.	Quality Assurance and Accreditation Body	Institution Type
1	Ministério da Educação (MEC, Ministry of Education)	Responsible for the entire national education system
2	Coordenação de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), MEC	Graduate studies and teaching degrees
3	Secretaria de Regulação e Supervisão da Educação Superior (SERES, Secretariat of Regulation and Supervision of Higher Education), MEC	Private higher education institutions and programs

Admissions

No.	Institution Type	Entrance Examination	Administering Body
1	Federal universities	Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM, National High School Exam) Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	National Institute for Educational Studies and Research “Anísio Teixeira” (INEP) Ministério da Educação (MEC, Ministry of Education)
2	Private and other public universities	Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (at some private and public institutions) (ENEM, National High School Exam) Exame vestibular (highly competitive exams still in use at some institutions) Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	National Institute for Educational Studies and Research “Anísio Teixeira” (INEP) Individual universities Ministério da Educação (MEC, Ministry of Education)

Institutions

Types and number of officially recognized institutions providing secondary education.

No.	Institution Type	Number of Institutions	Qualifications Offered	Quality Assurance and Accreditation
1	Public federal, state and local universities	317 (2024)	Undergraduate courses Postgraduate courses	Ministério da Educação (MEC, Ministry of Education)
2	Private for-profit and not-for-profit universities	2,244 (2024)	Undergraduate courses Postgraduate courses	Ministério da Educação (MEC, Ministry of Education)

No.	Institution Type	Number of Institutions	Qualifications Offered	Quality Assurance and Accreditation
1	Universidades (Universities)	206 (2024)	Undergraduate courses Postgraduate courses Curso Superior de Tecnologia (CST, Higher Technology Course) leading to a Título de Tecnólogo Diploma de Curso Superior de Formação Específica (Diploma of Higher Education Course for Specialized Training) (conduct teaching and research activities)	Secretaria de Educação Superior (SESU, Secretariat of High Education), MEC
2	Centro Universitatrio (University Centers)	417 (2024)	Undergraduate courses Postgraduate courses Curso Superior de Tecnologia (CST, Higher Technology Course) leading to a Título de Tecnólogo Diploma de Curso Superior de Formação Específica (Diploma of Higher Education Course for Specialized Training) (not required to conduct institutional research)	Secretaria de Educação Superior (SESU, Secretariat of High Education), MEC
3	Instituto Federal (Federal Institutes)	41 (2024)	Technical and technological undergraduate courses Licenciatura (Bachelor’s degree) Bacharelado (Bachelor’s degree) Postgraduate degrees Curso Superior de Tecnologia (CST, Higher Technology Course) leading to a Título de Tecnólogo Diploma de Curso Superior de Formação Específica (Diploma of Higher Education Course for Specialized Training)	Secretaria de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica (SETEC, Secretariat of Professional and Technological Education), MEC
4	Faculdade (Colleges)	1,897 (2024)	Specialized training programs Do not issue diploma (university issues college’s diplomas)	Secretaria de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica (SETEC, Secretariat of Professional and Technological Education), MEC

Source: Censo da Educação Superior 2024, Ministério da Educação

Academic Qualifications

Not all awards or study patterns are included.

No.	Degree Name	Admissions Requirements	Length of Program	Graduation Requirements	Post-graduation Pathways
1	Bacharel/a (Bachelor’s degree)	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	3 to 4 years	2400 to 2700 hours	Access to: post-graduate diploma master’s degree
2	Licenciado/a (Bachelor’s degree in teaching)	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	4 years	2800 hours or 127 credits (minimum)	Access to: post-graduate diploma master’s degree
3	Título Profissional in: agriculture architecture engineering geology law nursing pharmacy physical therapy psychology zoology, etc.	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	5 years	3600 to 4000 hours or 163 to 182 credits (minimum)	Access to: post-graduate diploma master’s degree
4	Bacharel/a em Odontologia (Bachelor of Dentistry) Título de Cirurgião-Dentista (Dentistry) Grau de Cirurgião-Dentista (Dentistry)	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	5 years	4000 hours or 169 credits (minimum) 1-year clerkship	Access to: graduate specialization master’s degree doctoral degree
5	Título de Médico/a (Medicine)	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	6 years	7200 hours or 254 credits (minimum) 2-year practical internship (clerkship)	Access to: residency graduate specialization
6	Título de Médico/a (Medicine) Título de Veterinatrio/a (Veterinarian) Título de Bacharel/a em Medicina Veterinária (Veterinary Medicine)	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	5 years	4000 hours or 169 credits (minimum) 1-year clerkship	Access to: graduate specialization master’s degree doctoral degree
7	Tecnólogo/a Curso Superior de Formação Específica (Higher Education Course for Specialized Training)	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies)	2 to 3 years	1600 to 2400 hours (minimum)	Access to: bachelor’s degree or postgraduate diploma (depending on length)
8	Certificado de Especialização/Pós-Graduação – Lato Sensu (Postgraduate Diploma)	University degree	1 year	360 hours (minimum)	Access to: master’s degree
9	Mestre/a Lato Sensu (Master’s degree)	University degree	1 to 2 years	Academic coursework Completion of other institution-specific requirements (regulated, assessed, and overseen by CAPES)	Access to: doctoral degree
10	Mestre/a Strictu Sensu (Master’s degree)	University degree	2 years	Academic coursework Completion of other institution-specific requirements Thesis/dissertation (including examination and public defense) (regulated, assessed, and overseen by CAPES)	Access to: doctoral degree
11	Doutor/a (Doctoral degree)	Mestre/a (Master’s degree) or University degree	3 years	Academic coursework Completion of other institution-specific requirements Thesis/dissertation (including examination and public defense) (regulated, assessed, and overseen by CAPES)	Access to:

Technical Qualifications

Not all awards or study patterns are included.

No.	Degree Name	Admissions Requirements	Length of Program	Graduation Requirements	Post-graduation Pathways
1	Curso Superior de Tecnologia (CST) leading to a Título de Tecnólogo	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies), or Técnico/a (Technician)	2 to 3 years	1,600 to 2,400 hours	Access to: Bacharel/a (Bachelor’s degree) Licenciatura (Bachelor’s degree)
2	Diploma de Curso Superior de Formação Específica (Diploma of Higher Education Course for Specialized Training)	Certificado de Conclusão do Ensino Médio (Certificate of Completion of Secondary Studies), or Técnico/a (Technician)	2 to 3 years	1,600 to 2,400 hours	Access to: Bacharel/a (Bachelor’s degree) Licenciatura (Bachelor’s degree)

Grading System

Examples of the most commonly used grading scales.

No.	Degree Classification	Numeric Range
1	Superior	8.6 to 10
2	Médio Superior	6.6 to 8.5
3	Médio	5.0 to 6.5
4	Médio Inferior (Reprovação)	0.0 to 4.9

Enrollment

Total Enrollment

Total enrollment in a specific level of education, regardless of age.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Gross Enrollment Ratio

Total enrollment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

International Benchmarks

Academic Ranking of World Universities

Brazil

18 institutions in the top 1,000

Global Rank

12 of 63

Source: ShanghaiRanking Consultancy

QS World University Rankings

Brazil

10 institutions in the top 1,000

Global Rank

22 of 90

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Brazil

8 institutions in the top 1,000

Global Rank

29 of 74

Source: Times Higher Education

Higher Education

Overview

Ministry of Education (MEC, Ministério da Educação), Secretariat of Higher Education (SESU, Secretaria de Educação Superior)

Portuguese

2 semesters (semestres or períodos) (16 to 20 weeks each)First semester: February to JuneSecond semester: August to December

Quality Assurance and Accreditation

Admissions

Institutions

Academic Qualifications

Technical Qualifications

Grading System

Enrollment

Total Enrollment

Gross Enrollment Ratio

International Benchmarks

Academic Ranking of World Universities

18 institutions in the top 1,000

12 of 63

QS World University Rankings

10 institutions in the top 1,000

22 of 90

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

8 institutions in the top 1,000

29 of 74

2 semesters (semestres or períodos) (16 to 20 weeks each)

First semester: February to June

Second semester: August to December