The aim of this work is to identify and evaluate the institutionalization process of the Brazilian higher learning market. The study is longitudinal, with a historical perspective, ranging from 1970 to 2007. The study was conducted in the following stages: documental research, during which qualitative data described by the interviewees was raised, concerning Brazilian higher learning in the fields of Management, Education, History and Sociology; qualitative research was then conducted based on the collected data in order to define the relevant actors and actions pertaining to the point in question; in the theoretical bases and the research, the concepts of the institutional theory and its definitions were identified, and these guided the interpretation of the data, including the analysis of the main political and legal facts that permeated the higher learning system in Brazil, and were instrumental when it came to understanding the institutionalization process of the market in this sector. The results showed the main events that took place in the field of Brazilian higher learning that enabled the market to emerge as an institution in a segment that, when created, was predominantly universal and free. However, potentially in 1979 and throughout the 1980s, and extending up to 1996 when it gained effectiveness, and in the following years, the market became the largest provider of higher education in Brazil. Based on this research, the result that is presented is the formation of Brazilin higher learning with a great diversity of participating actors both within Brazil and from overseas, who influenced the configuration of this sector both directly and indirectly until it reached its present state.