The article analyzes the expansion and the supply behavior of technological higher education courses in the context of higher education in Brazil. It traces the origins of vocational education, laws and public actions that constituted the development process of technological higher education in Brazil. It presents evidence of the supply structure of technological higher education courses, at the academic, administrative and regional distribution levels in the period 2000 to 2010, as well as some secondary data from Inep/MEC's database. The data reveal that there has been a substantial expansion of technological higher education courses over this period, when compared to other courses, with greater emphasis on the private sector and on the academic realm of universities.
Professional education; Technological higher education courses; Brazilian higher education
