Abstract
This study examines the conditions of regulation of the quota policy at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), aiming to identify its effects on expanding the access to the university for public school graduates. In a theoretical and conceptual scope, the study proposes a notion of social justice that embraces socioeconomic distribution (class) and cultural recognition (status). The article also analyzes the construction of the legality of the quota policy as the expansion of the right to higher education, and adopts, as its methodological procedure, the analysis of the content of documentary sources that regulate quotas in the University. The study concludes that the institutionalization of the affirmative action policy at UFRGS (social quotas) has expanded the access to the university for public school graduates, including the access to undergraduate courses with profiles that are, historically, elitist.
Keywords
higher education quotas; public school graduates; social justice; quota policy at UFRGS