This project of the Council on Higher Education in the American Republics was financed by the Ford Foundation and assisted by the government of Brazil as well as by cooperation from distinguished Brazilian and Argentine educators. Professor Benjamin and his associates visited one hundred Latin American institutions and carried out inquiries in every American republic except Cuba. The nine chapters provide a historical sketch of the development of higher education in the American republics and discuss the distinct problems of hemispheric nations. Latin American schools have generally accepted the model of self-government developed at the medieval University of Bologna, and so student representatives share control of affairs with the faculty and with alumni delegates.
The book reveals many interesting facts. Rectors at Latin American universities are generally elected for short terms. Professors are usually employed on a part-time basis, and although paid only a fraction of the salary given United States professors for a similar number of hours, receive generous retirement pensions after only twenty or twenty-five years of service. Organization within faculties is by competitively won chairs (cátedras) rather than by departments. Student tuition is nominal or non-existent. Entrance requirements generally exist, but entrance exams are sometimes denounced by students as undemocratic. The years required for degree preparation approximate those spent in the United States. Brazil is somewhat different in that higher educational institutions must receive state authorization and are subject to periodic inspection. The Brazilian Constitution actually guarantees chair holders life tenure rather than merely the seven-year term customary in Spanish America.
Benjamin concludes that in many Latin American states higher education would vastly improve if these nations allocated to it some of the funds now spent for military hardware. Yet, on the whole, the author is pessimistic. lie foresees a possible decline in Latin American higher education. Brazilian conditions could certainly deteriorate. He recommends that Spanish American professors get their education within the hemisphere, and in their own areas if possible, to prepare them better to understand local needs. He also proposes something akin to Simón Bolívar’s plan for a hemispheric university. It could have schools scattered throughout the hemisphere: a graduate school for tropical medicine in Rio de Janeiro, a petroleum faculty in Caracas, and marine biological stations in Maine and Mexico. All cooperating nations would benefit.
The work contains few footnotes and, except for scanty references in the preface, no bibliography. The sections on the United States, which discuss the role of individuals and institutions in the evolution of our educational system, are considerably more analytical than any sections devoted to Latin America. In fact, the Latin American sections often read like answers to a questionnaire. This study makes no use of the work of historical investigators like Lanning, Whitaker, and Romanell. One also wishes that Benjamin had discussed influences which cannot be gleaned from official sources. He often seems to accept the last at face value. What political role do students and professors play in individual countries? How do student ethics or values in Latin America compare with those of students in the United States? To what extent does preference for rote learning rather than interest in developing critical analysis in students impede educational progress even at the highest level?
Despite the drawbacks cited above, this work with its twenty-eight tables contains much comparative information and deserves a place in reference libraries.
