The struggle to make the grade
If only more of the region’s higher-education institutions were like the University of São Paulo
LATIN AMERICA boasts some giant universities and a few venerable ones: the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) enroll several hundred thousand students apiece, while Lima's San Marcos was founded in 1551. Even so, the region is hardly synonymous with excellence in higher education. Research output is unimpressive, teaching techniques are old-fashioned and students drop out in droves. These failings matter. Faster economic growth is driving a big rise in demand for higher education in the region and a large crop of new universities. Now, at last, comes an effort to assess the quality of Latin American higher education.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "The struggle to make the grade"
From the October 8th 2011 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from The Americas
Why Mexico’s largest-ever election matters
The results will determine the political environment in which Mexico’s next president operates
Huge floods in Brazil’s south are a harbinger of disasters to come
Climate change is making weather events more extreme in the region
Luis Abinader is poised for a thumping re-election win
Voters rate the management of economy and his fight against corruption