The massification of higher education in Brazil:

distance learning between democratization and commodification

Abstract

This article, using a qualitative approach based on bibliographic and documentary research, examines the historical and regulatory process of institutionalization and expansion of distance education in Brazilian higher education and its relationship with democratization, massification, and commodification. The theoretical framework is structured around discussions concerning the democratization of access, massification, and the commodification of higher education. Following the enactment of the Law on Guidelines and Bases for National Education in 1996, distance education was officially incorporated into the Brazilian educational system, initiating a process of institutionalization and expansion that, over the following decades, made the modality a central component of higher education growth. The final analytical corpus comprises 33 sources, including federal legislation, scientific publications, and technical-institutional documents, covering the period from 1996 to 2025. The chronological and critical analysis shows that this expansion resulted from the interaction of regulatory frameworks, public policies, and institutional strategies, with a strong concentration of provision in the private sector. The findings indicate that distance education has effectively broadened opportunities for access to higher education, but that quantitative expansion and democratization are not equivalent processes, particularly when expansion occurs under conditions driven by scale and economic rationalization. The study concludes that democratization and commodification may coexist within this process and that the 2025 regulatory framework signals an attempt to reposition educational quality, pedagogical mediation, and institutional responsibility as necessary dimensions of the modality’s expansion.