The book Universidade S.A. [University, Inc.], published by FGV Press, discusses the process of transforming higher education institutions into major educational groups, with national and international activities.

As part of the FGV Pocket Collection – Economics & Management Series, the book shows that the higher education industry was one of those with the highest-rising stocks in Bovespa over the last five years, and has become a very lucrative business.

The major education groups listed on the market, with their classroom and distance courses, are responsible for including a large number of young people and adults in higher education, raising the net rate of enrollment in the country and creating a unique context: under professionalized higher education institutions fighting for space and students coexisting with major educational groups.

Other relevant issues addressed by the book consider the relevance of higher education being vocational, the distortion between public and private education in Brazil, the inclusion of the role of the manager in the teaching/learning process, discussions regarding students seen and understood as customers, and the role of Inc. universities in the future of Brazilian education.

The book’s authors, Paula Caleffi and Alexandre J. L. Mathias, lead us to reflect about which model of higher education is necessary in a country that still has a long way ahead before it can start implementing first-world projects.

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