The Access and Cultural Consumption of Students at the State University Vale do Acaraú, Sobral, Ceará, Brazil

This article is the result of the Final Work of the Specialization Course in Cultural Management, the result of an agreement between the Department of Culture of the State of Ceará, the Universidade Estadual Vale do Acaraú—UVA and Quitanda das Artes. The work analyzed indicators of cultural access and consumption among students at the Vale do Acaraú State University, located in the municipality of Sobral, in the state of Ceará, Brazil. To this end, the socioeconomic questionnaires filled out by enrolled students for the 1st semester of 2019 were analyzed. From the socioeconomic questionnaire applied by the University, questions relating to students’ socioeconomic and cultural consumption indicators were highlighted. Thus, seven indicators related to student cultural access and consumption were selected: family and student income, reading books, access to means of communication, knowledge of foreign languages, possession of a computer at home, means of accessing the internet and whether you receive any social benefit from the government. From the analysis of the results, it is possible to reflect on the paths in the field of culture and the role of cultural policy in university education. With regard to the development of cultural actions within the scope of UVA, considering access to culture, it is necessary to invest in public policies that promote the guarantee of students’ access to culture and its various manifestations. Regarding indicators of students’ cultural practices and consumption, it is necessary to review and update these requirements to better support the promotion of cultural policies at the University as a dimension that forms ethical-professional and citizenship values.