BRAZIL: University growth eroded by drop-out rates

The average cost of tuition at Brazil's private universities has fallen by almost a third over the last 10 years, and the number of students has risen above five million for the first time, according to research by Semesp, an organisation of higher education institutes in the state of São Paulo, writes Andrew Downie for The Chronicle of Higher Education.

However, the positive news is offset by a worrying increase in the number of students who are abandoning classes. Here in the state capital of São Paulo, Brazil's most populous city and the one with the most universities, a dropout rate that oscillated between 14% and 17% for most of the decade jumped to 20% in 2007 and 24% in 2008.
Full report on the Chronicle of Higher Education site