Table of Contents

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………..07
2. Literature Review …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
2.1 Literature Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………. 12
2.2 Banking system x economics and politics ………………………………………………………………….. 12
2.3 Banking loans x politics ………………………………………………………………………………………… 13
2.4 Brazilian banking system ………………………………………………………………………………………. 14
2.5 Student loans …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15
2.6 Evolution of higher education funding ……………………………………………………………………… 17
2.5 Brazilian government policy for students – FIES …………………………………………………………. 18
2.8 Student loan policy in the US …………………………………………………………………………………. 20
2.9 Literature Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 21
3. Methodology …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 23
3.1 Methodology Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 23
3.2 Research Design …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 24
3.2.1 Research Philosophy ………………………………………………………………………………………. 24
3.2.2 Research Approach ………………………………………………………………………………………… 25
3.2.3 Research Strategy ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26
3.3 Research Choices ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 28
3.4 Time horizon ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 29
3.5 Techniques and procedures …………………………………………………………………………………… 29
3.5.1 Data Collection …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 29
3.5.2 Data Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30
3.3 Sampling – Selecting Respondents …………………………………………………………………………… 30
3.6 Research Ethics ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 31
3.7 Limitations of Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………. 32
4. Data Findings ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 33
4.1 Data from Interviews …………………………………………………………………………………………… 33
4.2 Data from Questionnaires ……………………………………………………………………………………… 36
5. Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 39
6. Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 43
7. Self reflection ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 45
7.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 47
7.2 Kolb style ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 47
7.3 Honey and Mumford ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 50
References ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 52
Appendices ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 58