Two big Brazilian education firms, now in the process of merging, show how universities can do both quantity and quality.
IN THE United States worries about private, for-profit universities’ high cost and dubious quality abound. A congressional inquiry in 2012 acknowledged that the sector, which trebled enrolment during the previous decade, gave students who were older, poorer and often less well-prepared for further study than those at public or non-profit institutions their best chance of a degree. But it concluded that soaring fees and drop-out rates meant that a majority left with nothing more than extra debt. More...

JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight: A new television documentary tackles the growing worries and criticism over college costs and student debt.
Jeffrey Brown taped this conversation last week.
JEFFREY BROWN: The American higher education system has long been regarded as a crowning achievement. But these days, the focus has been more on its problems, rising tuition bills that stoke ballooning debt, too many students who never graduate, misplaced and overly lavish expenditures on facilities and housing and much more. More...