College enrollment in Brazil doubles in past 9 years

The number of students enrolled in colleges and universities in Brazil doubled from 2001 to 2010, reaching 6.379 million, the Education Ministry said Monday. Citing a college census, the ministry said that college enrollment was up 7.1 percent in 2010 from 2009. Education Minister Fernando Haddad said the figures indicated the growing access to college education in Brazil, adding that the government will manage to raise the number to 10 million in 2020. The census also indicated an advancement of distance education. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has signed a bill which will provide as much as 13.7 billion U.S. dollars to increase students' access to technical schools in the next three years. Under the so-called "National Program for Access to Technical Education and Employment," the government expects to create 8 million places in technical courses.