The Brazilian educational system includes both public (federal, state, and municipal) and private institutions, ranging from pre-school, elementary (First Degree - I Grau), and secondary (Second Degree - II Grau) to university and post-graduate levels. Education is compulsory for ages seven through to 14. Public education is free at all levels. Non-profit private schools are also eligible to receive public funding.

There is a lot of variation in schools in Brazil, but the two big splits seem to be public/private and urban/rural. The kids in public schools are almost all poor. The wealthy send their kid to English or French private schools, and the middle class scrimp and save to send their kids to private schools too.

According to article 208 of Constitution, the fundamental education is mandatory and gratuitous. Only the fundamental education is mandatory in Brazil. Despite the facts that fundamental education is mandatory and work under the age of 16 is forbidden, Brazil has many cases of infant labor; and the reason is simple: parents need their kids to work to make money. However any youth or adult who did not follow or finish regular schooling at the appropriate age has the possibility of making up for the delay by attending courses and supplementary examinations customizing the mode of education to this special type of student.

Because of the economic and social changes that have occurred in Brazil in recent decades, parents now place high value on education for their children. Availability of schools has become an important factor in deciding where to live and how to make a living, even in how many children to have. Under the new economic programs put into place by the current president Lula, Brazil’s economy is beginning to boom to unprecedented levels. The conditions for investment in property in Brazil have never been better. Brazil’s economy is reassuringly stable and the country boasts unlimited investment possibilities for those who buy property in Brazil now, while prices remain low. Increased investment in the tourism sector will ensure that your property purchase is a profitable one in the future.

Intermediary education takes three years. Most intermediary schools are maintained by the municipalities and States. A consequence of this is that the quality of schools will vary in accordance with the investment capabilities of those entities.

Most schools do not provide professional education. There are schools which provide, along with the regular intermediary graduation, also a professional formation; such schools are called 'escolas técnicas' (technical schools).

Higher education in Brazil is organized in two levels: undergraduate and graduate. The latter may be understood lato sensu (updating, specializing and further studies courses) or stricto sensu (master and doctorate courses). Brazil has put significant resources into developing its higher education system over the past three decades. As a result, a system has evolved in which some institutions have achieved recognizable excellence in teaching and research, while, more generally, the majority of institutions have struggled to provide relevant, quality education at reasonable cost. Looked at in isolation, certain parts of the system are sound and productive. Taken as a whole, the system still has a number of large challenges to overcome.

Post graduation in Brazil is also concentrated in public universities.

Significant advances have been made in the Brazilian educational structure in the last 25 years. The 1988 Brazilian Constitution allocates 25 percent of state and local tax revenues to education. In 1964, there were ten million students attending school at all levels. In 1990, there were 37.6 million students: 3.9 million in pre-school; 28.2 million at the elementary level; 3.8 million at the secondary; and 1.7 million at university. People in Brazil are very open to new things, new technology, and new behaviors. In other parts of the world, where things are more tribal, people might hang onto traditional ways of living, but that is less the case in Brazil.