One consequence has been the expansion of private higher education options in Brazil. While private universities affiliated with the Catholic Church date back to the 1600s, they have, particularly since the 1990s, made significant strides in strengthening curricula and becoming more engaged at home and internationally. PUC-Rio, a Jesuit-affiliated university, has become one of the most internationally recognized institutions of higher education in Brazil. Mackenzie Presbyterian University, founded by an American attorney at the end of the 19th century, is another private not-for-profit institution that enjoys a strong reputation abroad. Additionally, Brazil has one of the world’s most important academic think tanks, Fundacao Getulio Vargas (FGV), which trains public and private sector managers, and also engages in world-class policy research, often in collaboration with some of the world’s top universities.
Brazilian educational company Kroton Educacional SA (KROT3.BR) and Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA (AEDU3.BR) on Monday said they agreed to merge their operations, creating the country's largest educational company.
Education firms Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA and Kroton Educacional SA were added to Brazil's benchmark Ibovespa stock index for the period between Sept. 2 of this year and Jan. 3, 2014, exchange operator BM&FBovespa said on Monday.
Brazil has the world's 7th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with a population of around 195 million inhabitants, distributed in 27 states (more than five thousand cities). The country has a peculiar higher education system, with a relatively small number of public research universities and a large number of private institutions, both philanthropic and for-profit. Although the system has been growing substantially in the last 15 years, the number of young people attending the university has not exceeded 14% of the 18-25 age cohort eligible to pursue university level study. Approximately 6 million students attend a higher education institution in Brazil— 75% of these students are enrolled in private institutions (approximately half of them are for-profit institutions).
At a time when you might have expected to hear the youth of Brazil chanting about the nation’s football team, they called out “Vem pra rua” – “Come to the street” – an invitation to protest against corruption, police aggression and poor public services.
Estacio began 2013 with a new record for student enrollment. There were 117,000 more new on-campus and distance learning college students matriculated in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 23% compared to the same period last year. With this, Estacio ended the matriculation period for 1Q13 with a total student base of 334,200 undergraduate and graduate students, 19.9% above what was recorded for the same quarter in 2012, of whom 270,500 were matriculated for on-campus programs, and 63,700 in distance learning programs. Not including acquisitions made in 2012, the student base grew organically by 16.8%.
It’s been a busy time for the education sector in the Brazilian stock market. In less than a week, two large groups of private universities have filed for initial public offerings, which together could raise as much as R$1.6 billion (US$730 million). But there’s more action than IPOs. This year, three mergers and acquisitions of major education companies also shook up the sector, which is making big bets on online distance learning.
It has been a busy time for the education sector in the Brazilian stock market. In less than a week, two large groups of private universities have filed for initial public offerings, or IPOs, which together could raise as much as R$1.6 billion (US$740 million). This year, three mergers and acquisitions of major education companies also shook up the sector, which is making big bets on online distance learning, writes Patricia Gomes for edSurge.