Methodist education has been present in Brazil for 140 years, and to it can be attributed several groundbreaking advances in learning, including physical education classes and coeducation.
Today, there are 140,000 students enrolled in Brazilian Methodist schools, located in São Paulo, Rio, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, and Para. The Methodist University of São Paulo, or UMESP, has enjoyed university status since 1997. Prior to that, it was known as the Methodist Institute of Higher Education, which traces its origins back to 1938, when it was created as the Theology College of the Methodist Church.
Although UMESP is still renowned for its master and doctorate programs in Theology and Religious Science, many students are drawn in by the university’s prestigious communications department. And, as a Portuguese-speaking university (UMESP plans to launch its first pilot project of at least one major offered both in English and Portuguese in 2012), it also attracts Angolan and Mozambican students.
According to the dean, Professor Dr. Marcio de Moraes, UMESP plays an important role in building the Brazil of today and tomorrow, by helping shape young Brazilians into qualified workers prepared to tackle the demands of an ever-changing market. The number of students enrolled in tertiary education, he says, is still lower in Brazil than in neighboring countries. Therefore, schools like UMESP strive to both increase the number of positions available and raise the quality of education.
In order to stay on its positive and forward-thinking course, Dr. Moraes says: “The first challenge is maintaining the credibility and quality that has been offered over the last few years. Over the next five years, however, our greatest challenge will be to install at least three undergrad majors with dual certification with other universities.”
The Methodist university has also strengthened its distance-learning offer. Today, UMESP has 13,000 students enrolled in its open university and 15,000 in its traditional campuses.
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