STUDENTS OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES OF THE STATE OF SAO PAULO: NEW CAMPUSES, OLD INEQUALITIES?

Abstract

The paper examines the profile of the students of the new universities and schools in the State of São Paulo by the Brazilian federal and São Paulo State governments. These are: the Federal University of ABC and the School of Arts Sciences and Humanities at the University of São Paulo, located in the eastern region of the São Paulo City, and the outlying city of Santo Andre. In particular, it was examined whether being on the periphery of the city, the profile of the students admitted in such institutions maintain or modify the indicators referring to inequality of income, type of high school (public or private), and the self-declared race/color/ethnicity, in the Brazilian higher education as a whole. Also, students have to undergo the requirement of admission examination (vestibular). We establish also comparisons with data from the socio-economic questionnaire of the National Assessment of Students Performance (ENADE) and other available data referring to Brazil. We conclude that, in those institutions, there was no significant inclusion of people traditionally excluded of higher education. So, it is worthwhile to consider that the new institutions, in 2007, favored the expansion of access, but not its democratization.