Graduation in Speech therapy and audiology: considerations about the reality in Brazil and Chile

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the data on offered vacancies, enrollment and graduates considering public and private universities in Brazil and Chile. Method: the information and data on higher education institutions was obtained from the website of the National Institute for Research and Education in Brazil, and the Information Service of Higher Education and the National Council of Education in Chile. The analysis was descriptive and covered the number of graduate programs, number of vacancies, the selection process and number of graduates in the decades of 90 to 2010. Results: In Brazil, despite the large increase of Speech Therapy Graduate Programs between 2001 and 2003, there was a decrease since 2008. The number of graduates has remained between 1500 and 2000, from 1991 to 2010. Currently, there is a higher growth in Chile since 2004, which remains constant even to the present day. In both countries, the private system has expanded much more than the public one. Conclusion: There was an expansion of vacancies and of students in speech therapy programs in both countries, after 2001 in Brazil, and 2004 in Chile. This expansion demonstrates the effects of the international policy for higher education in Latin America, which favors the private system of education.