GLOBAL: Latin America 'next educational champion'

Latin America could become the world's "next educational champion", experts predict, given rapid economic growth in countries like Brazil, an increase in private universities, expansion of research and the massification of demand for higher education across the region.

So said leading academics and higher education professionals from Brazil, Mexico, the UK and Spain at the 2nd international "Reinventing Higher Education: The role of the university in a global society" conference held on 17-18 October in Madrid. The co-hosts were IE University and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

"In the first few days after we published our quality rankings for Latin America, we had over 500,000 viewing the statistics," said Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of QS Ltd, one of the speakers on a panel looking at higher education in Latin America.

"The growth in interest in the region is startling."

Enrolment in Brazilian universities has tripled from two to six million in the last decade, and the rankings show the extent to which the country has prioritised research, according to QS.

"Ten years ago we had 15% of the publications that France had, and this year the figure is 55%," said Carlos Leal, president of the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

Growth is also taking place in countries like Mexico, where Monterrey University has doubled its research funding - partly as a way to improve its ranking position. "We are pushing investors to invest in research because we want to compete with the best in the world," said Carlos Limón, the university's vice-president.

Increases in student mobility were also viewed as an indicator of Latin America's trajectory.

"This year we sent 7,000 abroad and have imported around 4,500, because students are now looking further afield," added Limón. "I went to the US for my masters, but now students are coming here."

On top of Latin American universities' growing global reputations, the employability of its graduates was seen as a further positive development.

"In Brazil and Mexico employability is growing, whereas it is depressed in Europe," pointed out Santiago Iñiguez, president of IE University. "They need more visibility and better marketing in the coming decade, but Latin America is going to be as attractive as the Far East is now," he said.

The panel also struck a note of caution. "The vast majority of Latin American universities are insular, and they need to invest more in infrastructure and support services," concluded Quacquarelli.

"They have a lot of challenges, but there is also great willingness from universities in the region to change."