Thesis advisor: Hans de Wit / As higher education enters the 21st century, funding issues have evolved with continued massification and limited government funding (Johnstone & Marcucci, 2010). Increased reliance on students and their families to cover the cost of higher education have led to student demonstrations across the globe, their main demand being free tertiary education to improve equitable access (Bernasconi, 2012; Cloete, 2015; Taylor, 2014). This international comparative quantitative international study explores the relationship between tuition fees policies, and more specifically tuition-free policies, and equitable access in three Latin American countries. Participation, college choice, and attrition decisions are analyzed through the lens of the financial and cultural capitals of students, using 2011 and 2013 data from socio-economic surveys in Chile – a high tuition fees country, and Brazil and Argentina – two countries with free public higher education. The findings suggest that tuition fees policies do not carry the importance students think it does. Countries with tuition-free public higher education seem to have similar issues, if not worse, than tuition-charging countries in ensuring equitable access and success for students from low socio-economic backgrounds. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a o direito à educação no Brasil, focalizando o Período Imperial (1822 a 1889). A reflexão incorpora uma análise históricocomparativa acerca do sentido do direito à educação, sua interpretação nos documentos legais e o correspondente debate legislativo. O mapeamento realizado observou a inserção da gratuidade e da obrigatoriedade na legislação. Vale ressaltar que a gratuidade foi explicitada na Constituição Política do Império do Brasil, de 1824. Com o Ato Adicional, em 1834, descentralizou-se a administração pública, ficando a educação primária a cargo das províncias. Assim, a gratuidade não se efetivou em algumas delas no período estudado. Já a obrigatoriedade enfrentou resistências e permeou inúmeros debates parlamentares, de modo que sua implantação aconteceu pontualmente apenas em algumas legislações provinciais. Apesar da explicitação do direito à educação, enquanto dever do Estado, só ter sido realizada no nível federal com a Constituição de 1969, o presente trabalho indica que, em nível provincial, houve inserções já no Período Imperial. / The purpose of this study is to analyze the idea of the right to education during the Imperial Period (1822 to 1889). The reflection incorporates comparative historical analyzes about the right to education, its interpretation on the legal documents and corresponded debates. The right to education mapping began with the observation of the concept of free tuition and compulsory education by the law. In 1824, the Imperial Constitution (Constituição Política do Brasil Imperial) established the principle of free tuition to elementary schools. With the Amendment Constitutional (Ato Adicional) of 1834 the public administration was decentralized and the provinces were made responsible for primary education. But it was not applied at some provinces at that time according this research. On the contrary, the compulsory concept was discussed by the parliament, so it was implemented in a punctual way, just established as a law in some provinces. Although the right to education as a state duty was officially declared only in 1969, this study shows that there were previous statements, in some provinces, during the Imperial Period.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a o direito à educação no Brasil, focalizando o Período Imperial (1822 a 1889). A reflexão incorpora uma análise históricocomparativa acerca do sentido do direito à educação, sua interpretação nos documentos legais e o correspondente debate legislativo. O mapeamento realizado observou a inserção da gratuidade e da obrigatoriedade na legislação. Vale ressaltar que a gratuidade foi explicitada na Constituição Política do Império do Brasil, de 1824. Com o Ato Adicional, em 1834, descentralizou-se a administração pública, ficando a educação primária a cargo das províncias. Assim, a gratuidade não se efetivou em algumas delas no período estudado. Já a obrigatoriedade enfrentou resistências e permeou inúmeros debates parlamentares, de modo que sua implantação aconteceu pontualmente apenas em algumas legislações provinciais. Apesar da explicitação do direito à educação, enquanto dever do Estado, só ter sido realizada no nível federal com a Constituição de 1969, o presente trabalho indica que, em nível provincial, houve inserções já no Período Imperial. / The purpose of this study is to analyze the idea of the right to education during the Imperial Period (1822 to 1889). The reflection incorporates comparative historical analyzes about the right to education, its interpretation on the legal documents and corresponded debates. The right to education mapping began with the observation of the concept of free tuition and compulsory education by the law. In 1824, the Imperial Constitution (Constituição Política do Brasil Imperial) established the principle of free tuition to elementary schools. With the Amendment Constitutional (Ato Adicional) of 1834 the public administration was decentralized and the provinces were made responsible for primary education. But it was not applied at some provinces at that time according this research. On the contrary, the compulsory concept was discussed by the parliament, so it was implemented in a punctual way, just established as a law in some provinces. Although the right to education as a state duty was officially declared only in 1969, this study shows that there were previous statements, in some provinces, during the Imperial Period.