Who Pays the Bill? Study Costs and Students' Income in Portuguese Higher Education

Abstract

group. Enrolments have greatly increased in the last few years, although they are still low in comparison to other EU Member States. The highest growth rates were in tertiary or higher education where the number of students rose by 72% between 1985-1986 and 1990-1991. The increase in the number of private institutions after 1986 also contributed to this growth. In 1994, 19.3% of students aged between 18 and 21 were enrolled in higher education. In 1985, they were 5.8%. Students can enrol in public higher education after successfully completing 12 years of schooling and sitting for national exams. After the introduction of the numerus clausus in 1978-due to an excess demand for higher education after the mid-1970s-only 48.5% and 48.6% of students entered a public higher education institution in 1991-1992 and 1992-1993, respectively. Higher education is divided into universities and polytechnics. Courses at the universities last for four to five years (a minimum of six in medicine) and lead to the licenciatura. Courses in polytechnics last for three to four years. Students can obtain a bacharelato in the third year or continue to obtain a licenciatura. To enrol for a master's or doctorate degree, they must hold a licenciatura. In 1992, private institutions had to establish admission quotas to have their courses recognised by the Ministry of Education. That year, the number of new entrants was greater than in the public sector, only six years after the publication of the Statute of Private and Cooperative Higher Education. The number of women is very high, even when compared to other EU Member States. Since 1975-1976, it has been higher than that of men. But there are significant differences according to discipline. More women graduate from university undergraduate courses. Expenditure on education is estimated to be about 5.6% of the GDP and about 21% of the Government budget; 17.3% is devoted to higher education (0.8% of the GDP). Almost all expenditure is in public education where, in 1993, the Government spent US $566 per student. This represented 48% of the Portuguese GDP per capita.