The expansion of the Higher Education System in contemporary societies at the end of the 21st century: models of institutional commodification and differentiation – the brazilian case

Abstract

This article discusses the overture of the higher education system in Brazil in light of the models of public politics applied in the contemporary society for the expansion of the higher education system in these societies. The central argument of the article states that these models, here called “Commodifi cation and Differentiation”, have signifi cantly enlarged the chances of poorer segments of western societies to gain access to higher education; however, at the same time, they preserve the elitist character of universities with a tradition in research and education. This expansion politics has produced a higher education system with access stratifi ed by social class. In the Brazilian case, even though the institutional standard of differentiation has been distinguished from the European and the American, its consequences in terms of access stratifi cation have been similar to the international standard.