Performance on the Enade: a Comparison Between Distance Learning and On-Campus Students

Abstract

The article compares the performance of students in in-person and distance learning undergraduate courses on the National Higher Education Exam (Enade) to understand whether differences in performance are associated with student profiles—such as socioeconomic characteristics and prior academic trajectory—or if they stem from distinctions between the two types of courses, such as faculty profile, infrastructure, and pedagogical factors. The Higher Education expansion process has led to both greater diversification of the student body and increased differentiation among institutions and programs. Thus, comparative analyses of different courses and contexts are essential for understanding the dynamics of higher education and identifying factors that should be improved to enhance educational quality. The analysis considered Enade results and data from the Higher Education Census, provided by INEP, for Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, and Accounting courses in 2015. The study used relative distribution analysis, a non-parametric technique that decomposes the differences in Enade scores between distance learning and in-person programs. The selected period allows for sufficient time to analyze the effects of the expansion process, without being influenced by the growth of distance learning after the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that the observed performance differences are due to the distinct profiles of students enrolled in the two types of programs rather than differences in program characteristics.

Keywords: Higher education. Performance. Enade. Distance learning. Relative distribution.