The impact of race and social economic status on university admission at the University of São Paulo

Sep 7, 2026

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This paper examines how race and social economic status shape access to higher education through an analysis of students admitted to the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil from 2004 to 2008. Using novel data and logistic regression, it finds admitted students are more likely to be white, come from affluent families, have attended private high schools, enrolled in prep courses, and have mothers with higher education. The results frame unequal accessibility for nonwhite and low-income students as a barrier to social mobility and discuss implications for research and policy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

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ABSTRACT

Introduction

Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies ISSN: 1744-2222 (Print) 1744-2230 (Online) Journal homepage: [http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rlac20](http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rlac20) The impact of race and social economic status on university admission at the University of São Paulo Rubia R. Valente To cite this article: Rubia R. Valente (2016): The impact of race and social economic status on university admission at the University of São Paulo, Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, DOI: 10. 1080/17442222 .2016.1170955 To link to this article: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17442222.2016.1170955](http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17442222.2016.1170955) Published online: 12 Apr 2016. | Submit your article to this journal | | --- | | View related articles | | View Crossmark data | Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at [http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rlac20](http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rlac20) Download by: [[76.184.103.94](76.184.103.94)] Date: 12 April 2016, At: 22:30 Downloaded by [76. 184. 103.94] at 22:30 12 April 2016 LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN ETHNIC STUDIES, 2016 [http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17442222.2016.1](http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17442222.2016.1)170955 | The impact of race and social economic status on university admission at the University of São Paulo
Rubia R. Valente
School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, University of Texas, Richardson, TX, USA | | | --- | --- | | ABSTRACT
This paper explores the relationship between race, class, and access to higher education by analyzing the characteristics of students admitted to the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil from 2004 to 2008. Employing novel data, the logistic regression results indicate that those accepted at USP are more likely to be white, from aﬄuent families, to have studied in private high schools, to have enrolled in prep courses, and to have a mother who attained higher education. The ﬁndings posit that the lack of accessibility for nonwhites and lower income status students to higher education in Brazil, as exempliﬁed by this case study, is an impediment to social mobility. The implications of these ﬁndings for future research and policy are discussed. | KEYWORDS
Aﬃrmative action; social class; race; university admissions; University of São Paulo; FUVEST; vestibular admission | | Introduction
An incongruity of the Brazilian educational system is the fact that while well-regarded institutions at the primary and secondary levels are in the private sector, at the university level, it is public institutions that are seen as superior. Consequently, admission to public universities is a rigorous, competitive process. Poor students who cannot aﬀord a private high school education perform worse in the vestibular1 than students from private schools. Furthermore, since Afro-descendants have been disproportionately situated at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, the majority of nonwhite students are enrolled in public schools. This creates an intergenerational cycle of socioeconomic stagnancy, where social mobility is practically unattainable for poor and nonwhite2 students with little access to higher education. This theoretical framework, advanced by Hasenbalg (1979), posits cumulative racial disadvantage over the life cycle, which inﬂuences socioeconomic position in the labor market, and thus an individual’s status during adulthood.
Aﬃrmative action policies have been implemented in Brazilian universities since 2004 with the objective of reducing inequality of access (Johnson and Heringer 2015; Telles 2004) . In 2012, the Brazilian government passed into law the Lei das Cotas, or Aﬃrmative Action Law, which prescribes admission quotas based on social and racial indicators for all federal universities. This law was surrounded by an intense public debate on whether aﬃrmative action is appropriate as a mean to promo

FAQs

What period and dataset does the paper analyze for USP admissions?

It analyzes students admitted to the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil from 2004 to 2008 using novel data.

What does the logistic regression indicate about the characteristics of admitted students?

Accepted students are more likely to be white, from affluent families, educated in private high schools, enrolled in prep courses, and to have mothers with higher education.

How does the paper connect inequality in access to social mobility?

It argues that limited accessibility for nonwhite and lower-income students to higher education, as shown in this case study, impedes social mobility.

Sep 7, 2026

Upload by Mason