Brazil has well-established systems to assess, monitor and assure the quality of learning and teaching in private and public higher education providers in the federal higher education system. Participation in the external quality assurance system is mandatory for private and federal public higher education institutions, which together account for over 90% of undergraduate enrolment in Brazil. The procedures used to assess institutions and undergraduate programmes are wide-ranging, encompassing institutional self-evaluation, peer review visits, programme-level quality indicators and large-scale student performance assessment. A separate, comprehensive system of external peer review is used to assure the quality of academic postgraduate education throughout the country.

Brazil has well-established systems to assess, monitor and assure the quality of learning and teaching in private and public higher education providers in the federal higher education system. The Ministry of Education (MEC) makes regulatory decisions about accreditation of institutions and authorisation and recognition of undergraduate programmes based on the results of evaluations coordinated by the Anísio Teixeira National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (INEP). The Foundation for the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) implements a separate system of quality assurance for academic postgraduate programmes.

This chapter presents on overview of the main findings and recommendations resulting from the OECD review of the external quality assurance system in the federal higher education system in Brazil. The analysis has assessed the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the external quality assurance procedures applicable to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the federal higher education system. The chapter summarises findings and recommendations in relation to the different components of the external quality assurance systems: a) procedures to regulate the “market entry” of new HEIs and new undergraduate programmes; b) procedures for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of existing undergraduate programmes and related feedback and corrective measures; c) external quality procedures governing academic postgraduate programmes; d) ongoing monitoring and evaluation of higher education institutions (institutional evaluation) and; e) governance and administrative bodies and arrangements that have been created to implement and oversee the processes above.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the main aspects of the external procedures in place in Brazil to assure the quality of the federal higher education system – the subject of this review - before setting out the framework that the review team has used to structure and guide its assessment of the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of these procedures. To contextualise the analysis in the review and the analytical framework used, the chapter also provides a brief review of some of the main developments and challenges faced by higher education quality assurance systems internationally.

This chapter presents a brief overview of the higher education system in Brazil and the underlying socio-economic context in which it operates. It starts with a short review of recent macroeconomic developments and demographic trends, before examining the main legal and administrative governance arrangements for the public and private higher education institutions that make up the federal higher education system and account for the vast majority of institutions and student enrolment in Brazil. The chapter then presents key data relating to the institutional landscape in higher education, types of programme offered, the teaching workforce, enrolment and attainment rates, a discussion of social equity and evidence about the learning and employment outcomes for graduates.

This chapter focuses on the processes in place in Brazil to regulate the establishment of new private higher education institutions and of new undergraduate programmes in new and existing institutions in the federal higher education system. The establishment of new private institutions and the creation of new undergraduate programmes in all types of institution require higher education providers to seek regulatory approval from the Ministry of Education (MEC). This approval depends on compliance with administrative procedures and a positive outcome from external peer reviews designed to assess the quality of proposed new institutions and new and recently established programmes. The chapter analyses these regulatory and evaluation processes, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, and provides recommendations for their improvement

This chapter examines the processes in place in the federal higher education system in Brazil to monitor the quality of established undergraduate programmes and take action in the event of poor performance. As currently designed, the cycle of ongoing quality monitoring involves the use of large-scale student testing, administered through the National Examination of Student Performance (ENADE), the results of which feed, with other indicators, into a composite indicator of programme performance – the Preliminary Course Score (CPC). When programmes score poorly on the CPC measure, they are subjected to an on-site peer review visit and may ultimately face sanctions imposed by the Ministry of Education. The chapter provides a critical assessment of these processes and provides recommendations for their improvement.

This chapter focuses on the mechanisms used for the external quality assurance of academic postgraduate education in Brazil. Brazilian postgraduate education comprises “stricto sensu” programmes, with a strong academic and scientific focus, and vocationally oriented “lato sensu” programmes, such as Masters of Business Administration (MBA). “Stricto sensu” programmes are subject to a specific system of quality evaluation and regulation, implemented by the Foundation for the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). The chapter analyses these processes, examining the systems in place to evaluate new courses, to allow them to enter the National Postgraduate System, as well as the periodic programme reviews that are undertaken every four years. Based on the strengths and weaknesses identified, the chapter provides recommendations for fine-tuning the system and planning for the future.

Like the external quality assurance systems in many other OECD and partner countries, the National System for Evaluation of Higher Education (SINAES) in Brazil evaluates both higher education institutions and individual study programmes within those institutions. Private and public institutions are subject to periodic re-accreditation, based on on-site reviews coordinated by INEP. Whereas for private institutions, re-accreditation is a pre-requisite for their continued operation, legally protected public institutions the process is essentially a formality. In both cases, the period for which re-accreditation is granted varies depending on the status and institutional quality score awarded to the institution. Institutions are also subject to annual monitoring, based on the average performance of their programmes in relation to SINAES programme-level indicators and the results of CAPES evaluations for “stricto sensu” postgraduate programmes. This chapter examines these processes and provides recommendations for the future development of the systems in place.

Effective systems of external quality assurance for higher education require effective governance. International experience points to the necessity of three key characteristics in the design of institutions for the governance and implementation of quality assurance. First, quality external assurance bodies need to be independent of government and the demands of party politics, and of the higher education sector itself. Second, responsible authorities must have sufficient resources - financial, human, and intellectual - to meet properly their responsibilities. Third, quality assurance bodies should have carefully developed procedures for engaging with the broader society that higher education systems have a responsibility to serve. This chapter briefly examines the governance and implementation of quality assurance in Brazil in light of these considerations and provides recommendations for the further development of system governance.