Rio, 12/3/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - At the moment, only 5.8 million Brazilians (3.43% of the population) have a university degree. And five times more whites get into the university than Blacks or Indians. That is the picture painted by the government's statistical bureau (IBGE), in data it is releasing on the 2000 Census.

However, the situation was much worst back in 1991, when only 2.7% of the population had university level studies.

The IBGE reports that among the Brazilian population over the age of 25, 55% of those with university degrees are women. But at the post-graduate level 57% are men.

The report also shows that 40% of Brazilians with a univerisity degree studied Social Science (Psychology, Economy, Communication) or Business Administration or Law. (AB)