Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    A Culture of Cybersecurity
    Opportunities in the Hard Sciences
    Career Preparation
Sign In
News

For Universities Looking Abroad, Brazil Promises Opportunity and Challenge

By Andrew Downie May 17, 2012
São Paulo, Brazil

Brazil’s rise from boom-and-bust nation to confident global player has grabbed the attention of foreign universities, who are courting students and administrators of South America’s largest and richest nation in increasing numbers.

In recent weeks, large delegations from Canada and the United States have visited Brazil on fact-finding missions.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

Brazil’s rise from boom-and-bust nation to confident global player has grabbed the attention of foreign universities, who are courting students and administrators of South America’s largest and richest nation in increasing numbers.

In recent weeks, large delegations from Canada and the United States have visited Brazil on fact-finding missions.

The visiting universities are seeking Brazilian partners and offering themselves as possible destinations for some of the 101,000 students the Brazilian government plans to send abroad on scholarships.

Higher education was given a huge boost last year when President Dilma Rousseff announced that Brazil would sponsor the 101,000 students under the Science Without Borders program.

For a nation that sent just 8,786 student to the United States in 2010, the numbers are enormous and have foreign universities flocking south of the equator to fight for a piece of the pie.

But the wannabe partners, as well as those with some experience in Brazil, caution that developing relationships here is rarely easy. Not only are there numerous institutional hoops to jump through in bureaucratic Brazil, but the huge surge of interest in what is now the world’s sixth-largest economy means Brazilians hold the upper hand when deciding on future deals.

“What I noticed is that you tend to arrive thinking you’ve got all the knowledge and information and access to the opportunities that are attractive to Brazilians,” said Malcolm Press, who heads the University of Birmingham’s international efforts in the Americas.

“But we are a small drop in the ocean; a lot of universities around the world are interested in Brazil. So don’t go there thinking they are going to be excited or surprised to see you.”

Mr. Press, who led a joint delegation from England’s Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham to Brazil last year, said visitors can hit the ground running by knowing not only what they want from the Brazilians but what the Brazilians want from them.

Researchers from the two universities returned home from last May’s visit having agreed on research collaborations in biofuels, oil and gas, and the economic impact of sporting events. Brazil is a world leader in the first area, and Britain has long experience in the others.

ADVERTISEMENT

But the deals took a long time to come to fruition, highlighting Brazil’s inexperience in negotiating with new partners, said Christine Ennew, who heads Nottingham’s internationalization efforts.

“We could be quite flexible in terms of processes and rules, whereas our Brazilian partners found it much more difficult,” Ms. Ennew said. “They had a real system and they felt they had to stick to it. That meant that a lot of the things that we tried to do took a lot longer to get sorted out.”

Brazilians say they can feel overwhelmed by the surge of interest from overseas. Sidney Mello, vice rector at the Federal Fluminense University, in Rio de Janeiro, says he receives delegation almost every a week, three times more than a couple of years ago.

Mr. Mello acknowledges that his university has the upper hand when choosing from this legion of suitors and works hard to firm up deals quickly.

ADVERTISEMENT

However, he chides foreign universities for being poorly prepared, and sometimes inconsiderate when approaching potential partners.

“Foreign delegations see it much more as a one-way street, with us sending students to them,” Mr. Mello said. “They want our cooperation, they want our resources, and they want to strengthen ties. But they don’t always offer us something in return.”

He also says that visitors sometimes assume that because Brazil is wealthy, and the government is backing new scholarship programs, its universities must well-off be as well.

“I think the most common error is that they think our universities have their own resources to carry out exchanges,” Mr. Mello added. “We have some resources, but not a lot. It is the government agencies that have resources.”

‘Elevator Speeches’

Much of those resources are being channeled into the Science Without Borders program. The scholarships are to be given in the STEM fields, and U.S. and Canadian universities were interested in talking about those disciplines on their recent trips.

ADVERTISEMENT

Some were pleasantly surprised at how advanced the top Brazilian counterparts are in those fields, and the visitors seemed equally amazed at the possibilities open to them. Brazil has around 2,500 universities, and although only a few are top quality, there are enough of them to present visitors with logistical conundrums.

“Our challenge is being able to drill down to find contacts,” says Devin Lueddeke, director of recruiting at Middlebury College’s Monterey Institute of International Studies, who participated in a trip organized last month by the Institute of International Education. “Until you find the right person, you need to give a lot of elevator speeches and hope that it filters through to where it needs to go. You need to stand out.”

Mr. Press advised newcomers not to limit themselves to the Rio-Brasilia-São Paulo axis. noting that a number of good but less glamorous universities and academic programs operate in the northeast and south of the country.

Communication is also a problem. Almost all of those on the IIE trip said the language gap was significant.

ADVERTISEMENT

Almost none of the Americans spoke Portuguese, and few of the Brazilians spoke English.

Americans also said that Brazil, for all the attention it was getting, was still largely an unknown quantity compared with other new economic powerhouses like China, India, and Russia. As a result, college presidents and provosts in the United States will need to be educated about the potential benefits.

Money, of course, is a perennial issue, especially for the Americans.

The Brazilian government is paying for 75,000 of the Science Without Borders scholarships, and the private sector is picking up the tab for 26,000 more. But U.S. universities do not have similar scholarships to offer.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We are all working with tight budgets, so we understand that we are going to have to be creative to secure funds for new initiatives,” says Oly Malpica Proctor, assistant chair of the mathematics department at Brookdale Community College, in New Jersey, who participated in the Institute of International Education trip.

Nevertheless, the potential benefits are clear, say many universities looking to engage in Brazil. But they caution not to expect miracles.

“We may have to focus on the very small number of programs we can be successful at,” says Jeffrey M. Peck, vice provost for global strategies and dean of Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College. “We need to have realistic expectations: Don’t try to do too much. Be patient, realize it takes time.”


More global news from The Chronicle

SIGN UP: Get Global Coverage in Your Inbox
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Twitter LinkedIn


We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
International
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Illustration showing two professors outside a university building sunk down in a large canyon, looking up at an unreachable outside world above them.
Stagnant pay
Professors Say They Need a Raise. They Probably Won’t Get One.
Photo-based illustration depicting a basketball scene with a hand palming a quarter, another hand of a man wearing a suit sleeve, and a basketball goal made from a $100 bill and the Capitol building.
Sports shakeup
A New Normal Looms in College Athletics. Can Trump Help Shape It?
Illustration showing three classical columns on stacks of coins, at different heights due to the amount of coins stacked underneath
Data
These 35 Colleges Could Take a Financial Hit Under Republicans’ Expanded Endowment Tax
Illustration showing details of a U.S. EEOC letter to Harvard U.
Bias Allegations
Faculty Hiring Is Under Federal Scrutiny at Harvard

From The Review

Solomon-0512 B.jpg
The Review | Essay
The Conscience of a Campus Conservative
By Daniel J. Solomon
Illustration depicting a pendulum with a red ball featuring a portion of President Trump's face to the left about to strike balls showing a group of protesters.
The Review | Opinion
Trump Is Destroying DEI With the Same Tools That Built It
By Noliwe M. Rooks
Illustration showing two men and giant books, split into two sides—one blue and one red. The two men are reaching across the center color devide to shake hands.
The Review | Opinion
Left and Right Agree: Higher Ed Needs to Change
By Michael W. Clune

Upcoming Events

Ascendium_06-10-25_Plain.png
Views on College and Alternative Pathways
Coursera_06-17-25_Plain.png
AI and Microcredentials
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin