Quota system and performance: a comparison between quota and non quota students at the Federal University of Vicosa

摘要

After seven years since the publishing of Federal Law n. 12.711 (Quotas Act), many questions about its legitimacy can be found, mainly those based on meritocratic aspects and on the decreasing of quality in the universities. Therefore, this article aims to analyze the academic performance levels of quota and non-quota students, and the dropout level among both groups as well. The case analyzed here is taken from the Federal University of Vicosa, based on a quantitative research with a sample formed by 4906 students. The findings let us assert that, statistically, there is no a difference between the academic performance level of quota and non-quota students in the vast majority of undergraduate courses. Furthermore, we have found out that the academic performance levels are not correlated with student entrance exam scores, based on the National Secondary Education Examination (ENEM). Finally, we have verified that the dropout level among quota students arc lower than non-quota ones.