Brazilian higher education in the context of political regimes evolution

The evolution of the higher education system in Brazil is inseparable with the political regimes transformation. Transition from monarchy to republic, from authoritarianism to democracy, military dictatorship and gradual re-democratization, consolidation of federalism and democracy - all these processes have determined public policy towards higher educational establishments. Despite considerable progress in the country in the last few decades, the sharpest political problems of higher education remain unsolved. That are its selective nature, the absence of equal access for all social groups, the hierarchy of higher educational establishments where the link between teaching and researches is provided only by public and catholic universities and bad quality of teaching in the commercial segment of higher education.