Brazil Says No to Online Law School

Online education has taken off in Brazil. From engineering to business administration, universities across the country now offer a wide range of remote courses, allowing students to earn degrees with little or no classroom time. But when it comes to law school, the government is holding the line.

A new federal decree (Decreto Nº 12.456) divides undergraduate education into three categories: online; hybrid; and in-person. For most degrees, students can choose any format. But for law, only the in-person format is allowed (even though “in-person” now technically allows up to 30% of course content to be delivered online).

There’s no question that virtual learning has its benefits. It expands access to education, particularly for students in remote areas or those juggling work and school. In a city like São Paulo, it can save hours of commuting time. Still, it brings significant challenges. For example, there is less interaction with professors and peers, and it can be difficult to maintain academic rigor and accountability.

Law isn’t the only field excluded from remote instruction. Medicine, dentistry, nursing, and psychology must also remain in-person. But law is unique in that it’s not a clinical discipline. Instead, it relies on live discussion, critical reasoning, and structured debate. These qualities don’t translate well to a screen.

For now, legal education in Brazil must remain anchored to the classroom. Whether this ensures better lawyers is a matter of opinion, but the government’s position is clear: learning the law still means physically showing up to school.