The Right to Education and Access to Higher Education

The aim of this monograph was to analyze the context of social programs for access to and permanence in higher education in Brazil and to compare the nuances encountered in this scenario with the demands of the market. Initially an attempt was made to identify the content of the Right to Education seen as a social right to be provided by the State in relation to Higher Education since it permeates a different treatment from that given to primary and secondary education. The right to access higher education loses its fundamental character since the right to education a second generation social right is conceived at minimum levels covering primary and secondary education. As such it does not represent as the research has shown a compulsory right to be provided directly by the state. Access to higher education institutions is linked to the individual capabilities of the beneficiary. In addition to this initial investigation we sought to contextualize the scenario of private higher education institutions based on a historical analysis of the regulation of the sector in recent decades and the perspectives arising from the findings.