Higher Education and Economic Crisis – Contributions to the Portuguese Case Study

Abstract

The Portuguese higher education system experienced profound changes in recent decades, resulting in significant socioeconomic modifications. In general, countries/ territories most developed are those where education levels are also higher. In our days, of economic crisis, when the entrance to the labor market worsens, the pursuit of higher education should be the choice of a greater number of young people, but many families may have greater difficulty in keeping the children in the education system. In this study, we will check for evidence of the effects of the economic crisis on demand and frequency of higher education by applying the econometric methodology. Taking the territory as a whole, the analysis of synchronization, between the evolution of the economic cycle and the number of applicants of higher education, confirms the positive correlation, especially in the polytechnics institutions. From a regional viewpoint, considering the example of the Azores region, that positive correlation is also confirmed.