UNIVERSITIES CORP.: EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRY, FINANCIAL CAPITAL, AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION

Abstract

Since the 2000s, private Higher Education in Brazil has been undergoing a process of centralization and concentration led by large international publicly traded companies, the holding companies. In order to understand this phenomenon, we have defined the Universidade Estácio de Sá, a company belonging to the YDUQS Participações S.A., as our object. The aim is to analyse the actions of the holding companies in reorganizing private higher education, under the logic of profit maximization in finance. As a result, we saw how YDUQS Participações S.A. stratified undergraduate courses by income bracket, limiting the face-to-face modality to "Premium Education". We conclude that the commodification of higher education has the effect of transforming a social right into a service.