Book excerpt: Education in Brazil has changed intensely over the last several years. Access to basic education is nearly universal, secondary education has been expanding very rapidly, and so too has higher education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. However, serious issues remain related to quality, equity and inappropriate use of resources. Some of these problems are related to the fact that Brazil started to develop its education institutions very late, and did not build strong teaching and academic professions that could provide the necessary support for education policies committed to equity, quality and efficiency. This book, written by leading experts, is the first English-language text to provide a comprehensive analysis of the challenges facing Brazilian education at all levels, including issues such as the quality of basic education, the establishment of standards for higher education, the experiences of technical and vocational schools, teacher education, regulation and financing of public and private higher education, and the growing role of graduate education and research.