WEP-Brazil

World

^{|  About
WEP |   Country
List   |   WES
|   MTCU   |
Links   |   français   |   Feedback
|}

Education Profiles

BRAZIL


Country Facts

Education Overview

Elementary Education

Secondary Education

Higher Education

Grade-by-Grade Comparisons

Other Resources

Printer Friendly Version

HIGHER EDUCATION (SUPERIOR)

Admission Requirements
Institution Types
Structure
Undergraduate Programmes
Postgraduate Programmes
Grading Scale

There are three types of institutions of higher education in Brazil:

Universidades (universities), offering a multitude of degree programs.
Federaçoes de escolas (federation of schools), smaller institutions that do not offer the same range of programs as are available at universities.
Escolas isolades or faculdades (isolated schools), small schools offering only one or two programs of study.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
After the completion of secondary education, a student who wishes to enter higher education at the undergraduate level must pass a vestibular (entrance examination) for each program. Each university administers its own entrance examinations, which cover the following subjects: language (Portuguese), humanities (history, geography, social studies), natural sciences (biology, chemistry, physics), mathematics and one foreign language. Students choose their specialisation through these exams and cannot change their specialisation once they enter college.

At the graduate level, entrance requires having completed an undergraduate course and going through the selection process established by the institution.

LENGTH
Programs vary in length from four to six years: medicine (six years); law (five years); engineering (five years); teacher education (four years); business administration (four years); nursing (four years) and dentistry (five years). The Master's of Arts degree programs take a maximum of three years. In addition to the theoretical credit courses, a dissertation is required. The Doctorate degree, which is a maximum of five years in length, requires a dissertation in addition to the theoretical credit-courses and the qualifying examination.

ASSESSMENTS AND PROMOTION:
Upon completion of an academic course of study (enrolment is done by subject, in a non-sequential system of varying duration, depending on the specialisation), university students are awarded the Bacharelado (Baccalaureate). At this point, students may take an additional year of teacher training leading to the Licenciatura (Licenciate). Generally, the Bacharelado and the Licenciatura are awarded simultaneously, with the Bacharelado being awarded in a specific field of study and the Licenciatura often being awarded in education or pedagogical studies. Professional awards are usually designated as Título Profissional (e.g. Título de Arquitecto [Title of Architect]).

Sensu stricto (strict course) programs lead to the awards of Mestrado (Master's) and Doutorado (Doctorate). Mestrado programs take a minimum of one year full-time and a maximum of five years part-time to complete. A Doutorado requires a minimum of two years following a Mestrado. Both awards require completion of course work, a comprehensive examination, as well as a dissertation incorporating original research.

GRADING SCALE
Each university has the right to determine its own grading scale. Many tertiary institutions observe the following:

Note: Some tertiary schools use grades of A (excelente), B (bom), C (regular) or D (insuficiente). Insuficiente can either mean below average or failing in this system.


Revised: May 06, 2004 .