I.1 Some Technical Aspects of the World Bank Short-Cycle Program Survey

Entering the “black box” of program quality is fundamental to design and replicate high-quality programs. However, program practices are usually not reported in standard data sets, which at most contain program characteristics such as duration or number of faculty. This lack of data severely limits the ability to understand what makes a program good.

To overcome this limitation, this study designed and implemented the World Bank Short-Cycle Program Survey (WBSCPS) in Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Peru. These countries account for 54 percent of all SCP enrollment in LAC. In Brazil, the survey focused on the states of São Paulo and Ceará; in Peru, it focused on licensed programs.

The survey was administered to program directors by phone, online, and in person. It had an unusually high response rate (70 percent on average), for a total of approximately 2,100 effective interviews. About half of the interviews took place during the COVID-19 lockdown. In an effort to encourage truthful responses, program directors were informed that the survey was part of a World Bank study and not a joint effort with any government authority; that responses were confidential and would not be shared with third parties (including government); and that responses would not be individually reported in the study. Additional technical information on the WBSCPS can be found in Box I.1.

Box I.1 Some Technical Aspects of the World Bank Short-Cycle Program Survey

The World Bank Short-Cycle Program Survey (WBSCPS) was implemented in five countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Peru. In Brazil, given the size of the country, the survey focused on the states of São Paulo and Ceará, which are markedly different from each other. While São Paulo captures 22 percent of Brazil’s population, Ceará captures 4 percent. Relative to Brazil as a whole, the per capita gross domestic product of São Paulo is about 50 percent higher; in Ceará, it is 50 percent lower. In Peru, the survey focused on licensed short-cycle programs (SCPs) as of October 2019 (17 percent of all the SCPs in the country). Licensed programs have higher enrollment and charge higher tuition than nonlicensed programs. Throughout this book, on the WBSCPS, “Brazil” refers to São Paulo and Ceará, and “Peru” to licensed programs.

The sources and years of the SCP universe for the purpose of the WBSCPS are as follows:

• Brazil: Higher Education Census (Censo da Educação Superior), 2017 • Colombia: National Information System of Higher Education (Sistema Nacional de Información de la Educación Superior), 2017 • Dominican Republic: Ministry of Economics, Planning, and Development, 2019 • Ecuador: Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, 2019 • Peru: Ministry of Education, 2019

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