The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2010–2019
Brazil's Sisu replaced per-university exams with one national score and daily cutoffs
Federal universities admit from a single ENEM score; students watch daily cutoffs and switch choices, so seats go to the best-fit.
Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) · Inep · Brazilian federal universities
The solution
Brazil's federal universities each ran their own entrance exam, so a student had to take multiple tests, travel, and gamble on where to apply — and good candidates missed out simply by guessing wrong.
In 2010 the government launched Sisu (Sistema de Seleção Unificada): universities using ENEM as their single selection stage list their vacancies on one portal, and students register with their national score, choosing up to two options. The system shows each course's cutoff score daily, and a student can switch options as cutoffs move, with the previous choice voided.
The first round offered 47,900 places across 49 federal institutions in three calls: highest scores take seats, unfilled places are re-offered, and the whole country's public university entry runs on one exam instead of hundreds of separate ones.
Why it worked
- One national score replaces dozens of exams and application fees
- Live cutoff scores let students aim where they actually have a chance
- Three sequential calls recycle vacated places instead of wasting them
- Federal universities fill seats from a bigger, fairer applicant pool
What can be applied
Admission markets fail when applying widely is costly and information is opaque; one score, one application and live cutoff feedback slash that cost and let one exam allocate seats everywhere.
Aftermath
Sisu became the standard route into Brazilian federal universities using ENEM, with the re-call mechanism still filling vacated seats, and the model was extended with quota policies for public-school students. The ENEM-plus-Sisu combination replaced most of the old per-institution entrance exams.
Sources
- Sistema de seleção do Enem entra no ar sexta-feira com 47 mil vagas
- Saiu a segunda chamada do Sisu, o vestibular via Enem
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