Autonomy and Accountability in Higher Education, Latin America

Synonyms

Independence; Public responsibility

Historical Background

Latin America groups together countries in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean, which respond to Spanish or Portuguese roots. It is a diverse region, united by its cultural and language background. Until the second half of the twentieth century, higher education systems in the region were integrated by three types of universities: public or State owned; Catholic universities, established by the Church under special provisions that assimilated them to the public universities; and secular, elite universities, established by entrepreneurial groups, with a clear public commitment. Even though the last two groups were formally private institutions, all were created by law and operated in a similar way to public universities in terms of mission or target population; governments recognized this by funding them under the same criteria that applied to public universities.

A student revolt in 1918 in...