Brazil reaches out

Chronicle of Higher Education : The Brazilian government has announced that it will fund 75 000 studentships to study abroad, worth $30 000 each. Brazil’s university system is successful, but that success is not unqualified; scientific research is highly variable in quality, and there is a shortage of researchers. Student bodies of elite universities tend to be economically homogenous. The Brazilian government recognizes that the country’s higher education system will need to expand rapidly while improving in quality if it is to support the country’s economic growth: 7.5% last year, with another 4% predicted for 2011 despite the global slowdown.