The democratization of higher education in Brazil, a brief history: from colony to republic

Abstract

The text presents the history of the democratization of higher education in Brazil in periods between colony, empire and republic. The study did not aim to explain the transformations that occurred in higher education, but sought to describe the challenges, problems and historical advances that the Brazilian population
has experienced in order to have access to this type of education. The  methodological procedure used was the bibliographic research. That, as a result, indicates the late interest of the Brazilian government for the establishment of universities in the country, besides showing the strong concern with the control and distribution of what was entitled to privilege to the less wealthy citizens. As a consequence, the elitist and selective panorama of national institutions of higher education, as well as a hybrid policy of access with governmental investments in public institutions, but also in the private education network, which does not always offer the same pedagogical quality, is evidenced.