Education and urbanization are words which are historically and essentially linked, because formal education, as it is known today, has always occurred in the cities. Since ancient times, it was major cities like Athens that gave rise to prominent research centers. In this context, some cities stood out as centers of production of knowledge, as was the case of Alexandria. In the Middle Ages, the history of European education was characterized by the first universities, which came into being in cities such as Bologna, Heidelberg (1386) and Paris. In the nineteenth century, the German university emerges as a model to be followed by the Americas: bringing together teaching and research in one and the same institution to produce and disseminate knowledge.In comparison to Europe and the Americas, Brazilian university emerged much later. In Brazil, the first higher education courses were only created in the nineteenth century and until 1930 they did not include universities. The first Brazilian university to be effectively institutionalized was the University of São Paulo, founded on January 25, 1934, integrating existing autonomous colleges in the city.Currently, from a European perspective, Portugal may be compared to Brazil regarding the policies  of transferring responsibilities from the state to the local (municipal) level. Although much more sparsely populated than Brazil, "Portugal has, as it is known, the legal instruments which grant the local government an important and unequivocal status, simultaneously ensuring its political, administrative and financial autonomy: the Constitution, the Local Finance Law, and the European Charter of Local Autonomy created in the Council of Europe, signed by Portugal among other countries in 1985 and ratified." (Martins, 2001, apud, Neto-Mendes, 2004).In contrast, in Brazil, decentralization is regulated in a general way: the 1996 National Guidelines for Education, art. 8, provide that "the Union, the States, the Federal District and the municipalities shall organize their education systems cooperatively," as it establishes the competencies of the states and the decentralization of  regional and local public policies.The overall objective of this study is to establish a possible comparison between authors from Portugal and Brazil, regarding the policies of transfer of responsibilities from the State to the local (municipal) level. The specific objective of this paper is, following a theoretical analysis, to enter the data already collected on municipal institutions of higher education (IMES) in the State of São Paulo, showing that they are spread throughout the interior of the state in midsize cities (education at the local level).The key questions discussed are: Can the theoretical approach of Brazilian and Portuguese authors demonstrate the relevance of local government in education? Currently, how important are municipal institutions of higher education to the local government and the move inland in the State of São Paulo, Brazil?The survey was conducted with the data available, collected and organized by the CEE-SP and published in 1999, and the national data which are updated annually by the Ministry of Education. These were compared with each other and complemented, demonstrating the relevance of municipal institutions of higher education.

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