This study briefly summarized the background, structure and characteristics of the Catholic University in Latin America. While Catholic universities differ greatly both from country to country and within the various countries, a prototype of characteristics does exist. The following conclusions were reached:
Few of the present Catholic universities had their beginnings in the colonial period because most of the early institutions were nationalized and now exist as official government universities. Most contemporary Catholic universities have come into being within the last thirty years with the number still increasing each year. Most Latin American countries have one or more Catholic universities. Uruguay, Bolivia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti are the exceptions. The Church does not place financing of these universities as high priority; therefore, they depend on tuition and contributions for support. Religious study per se within the institutions is not a paramount consideration, even in the Catholic University of Chile which enrolls over 5000 students. The aims are more like those of the neighboring public-supported universities. The majority of Catholic universities in Latin America belong to the Organization of Catholic Universities in Latin America (ODUCAL) located in Santiago de Chile. This organization does not seem to have the power or means to police standards. As a result many institutions are not really universities in the traditional sense. In some countries, such as Argentina, the private university must meet government standards before a charter is granted, and is subject to periodic review.
Students in Catholic universities are from the families who can afford to pay tuition fees. This makes the student body elite because it eliminates those from lower classes as well as those from Indian and black cultures. This means that not all Catholic students may attend. Those in attendance choose the same types of disciplines as their counterparts in official universities. Social sciences, business, and law are the most popular choices with agriculture, nursing, and pharmacy on the other end of the scale. The one exception is medicine because of the paucity of medical facilities within Catholic universities. The balance between male and female students varies greatly from institution to institution. For example, Pontifical Catholic University in São Paulo, Brazil had a female population of 64.5 per cent while Central American Catholic University had 14 per cent. Most Latin American students attend official universities. Less than 15 per cent of all students attend Catholic universities. Students in Catholic universities are not well-organized. The same is true with the professors. This is quite unlike students and faculty members of national universities. Professors are mostly part-time employees which follows the Latin American tradition.
Perhaps the strongest parts of the book are the discussions of historical antecedents and the analysis of the problems. The statistical data can be questioned because of the various ways the data were collected, namely through two questionnaires with spotty returns and through information obtained from ODUCAL and the Brazilian Catholic University Organization. In each case the method of obtaining the information was different.
The reader who has been accustomed to studying about Latin America in Spanish or Portuguese will find it a new experience to read about Catholic Universities in Latin America in the German language.
