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Get Higher Education Census (Censo da Educação Superior) data

Source: R/get-censo-superior.R
get_censo_superior.Rd

Downloads and processes microdata from the Brazilian Higher Education Census (Censo da Educação Superior), conducted annually by INEP. Returns data on institutions, courses, students, or faculty.

Usage

get_censo_superior(
  year,
  type = c("ies", "cursos", "alunos", "docentes"),
  uf = NULL,
  n_max = Inf,
  keep_zip = TRUE,
  quiet = FALSE
)

Arguments

year

The year of the census (2009-2024).

type

Type of data to load. Options:

  • "ies": Higher education institutions (default)

  • "cursos": Undergraduate courses

  • "alunos": Student enrollment

  • "docentes": Faculty/professors

uf

Optional. Filter by state (UF code or abbreviation).

n_max

Maximum number of rows to read. Default is Inf (all rows). Consider using a smaller value for exploration.

keep_zip

Logical. If TRUE, keeps the downloaded ZIP file in cache.

quiet

Logical. If TRUE, suppresses progress messages.

Value

A tibble with Higher Education Census microdata in tidy format.

Details

The Higher Education Census is the most comprehensive statistical survey on higher education institutions (HEIs) in Brazil. It collects data from all HEIs offering undergraduate and graduate programs.

Data types:

  • "ies": One row per institution — administrative data, location, academic organization, funding type.

  • "cursos": One row per undergraduate course — area of study, modality (in-person/distance), enrollment counts.

  • "alunos": One row per student enrollment — demographics, program, admission type, enrollment status.

  • "docentes": One row per faculty member — education level, employment type, teaching regime.

Important notes:

  • Student files ("alunos") can be very large (several GB). Use n_max to read a sample first.

  • Column names are standardized to lowercase with underscores.

  • Use the uf parameter to filter by state for faster processing.

Data dictionary

For detailed information about variables, see INEP's documentation: https://www.gov.br/inep/pt-br/acesso-a-informacao/dados-abertos/microdados/censo-da-educacao-superior

See also

Other Higher Education Census functions: list_censo_superior_files()

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# get institution data for 2023
ies <- get_censo_superior(2023)

# get course data for Sao Paulo
cursos_sp <- get_censo_superior(2023, type = "cursos", uf = "SP")

# get a sample of student data
alunos <- get_censo_superior(2023, type = "alunos", n_max = 10000)

# get faculty data
docentes <- get_censo_superior(2023, type = "docentes")
} # }