This paper analyzes the supplying of enrollment vacancies in undergraduate night courses in Brazil, focusing the public universities of São Paulo State, in order to check how such universities have complied with the requirements of São Paulo State Constitution by reserving at least one-third of such vacancies for the night courses. One weighs the impact of such requirements in the wider context of enrollment vacancies in higher educational institutions in Brazil, taking into consideration the fact that the University Reform still in process proposes the same ratio to federal universities. A historical review explains the origin of higher education in our country, the exclusive predominance of public institutions until the beginning of the 20th century, the emergence of religious institutions within the private sector in 1946, and the development of the University Reform in 1968, a landmark in the expansion of the private sector which nowadays comprises 71.7% out of the 4.1 million enrollment vacancies meant for the undergraduate night courses in Brazil. Pondering upon the issue recommends that the expansion of higher education should give priority to the growth of enrollment vacancies within the public school system, trying to reach a better balanced ratio of such vacancies between the public and the private sectors, emphasizing the increasing demand for night courses, having in mind a more extensive development program in the country, commanded by the State and founded on the advancement of Education.
Higher education; Night courses; Supplying of enrollment vacancies; Public policies
