Brazilian higher education sees general improvement in the last three years

The Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) today announced the General Course Index (IGC), an annual evaluation of courses and Brazilian higher education institutions relating to 2011. 8,665 courses were evaluated to form the grades for 1,387 universities, colleges, and academic centers. According to the Minister of Education, Aloizio Mercadante, there was a general improvement in higher education over the last three years.
The IGC is an index that evaluates undergraduate and postgraduate (masters and doctorates) courses and uses the weighted average of the Preliminary Course Concept (CPC) for undergraduate courses, and the CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) grade for graduate courses.
In 2011, courses were evaluated in the areas of sciences and teaching degrees, in addition to technological courses involving industrial control and processes, information and communication, infrastructure and industrial production. Each area of knowledge is evaluated by the IGC every three years.
According to the ICG, 27% of the courses did not achieve sufficient performance with respect to Ministry of Education parameters and received grades 1 and 2. The minimum grade of the institution required to participate in policies, such as the University for All Program (ProUni) and the Student Financing Fund (FIES), is 3. If the target is not reached, the institution may be penalized. Read more...