Impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic on Private Higher Education Institutions in Brazil

Abstract

This research aimed to understand the transformations that occurred in private higher education institutions in Brazil during the pandemic period and the perceived impacts after this period. During the research, a bibliographic search on the subject in question was conducted, and an investigation instrument was applied to 114 educational managers from higher education institutions from all regions of Brazil. This instrument was developed with closed, multiple-choice, direct, and indirect questions and divided into two parts. The first part collected general data to understand the profile of the respondents, and the second part collected specific data on the topic relevant to this research. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were applied to analyze the data. Qualitative variables were presented by absolute and relative frequency distributions. Quantitative variables were presented by measures of central tendency and variation. The results indicated that there were transformations in areas of the organization such as academic, financial, and planning and management, but the academic area was the one that underwent the most transformations overall. Another point highlighted was the type of academic organization, with University Centers being the most affected by strategic transformations. It was also noted that institutions were impacted in a similar way when compared by region. Finally, when comparing institutions based on the number of enrolled students, smaller institutions were the ones that underwent the most strategic transformations.