The article aims to point out historical and legal evidence regarding the evaluation of Higher Education in Brazil, evidencing facts that favored the construction of the evaluation process currently observed. It is understood that studying history is a preponderant factor, in order to apprehend the current evaluative model and propose changes in these mechanisms so present in the daily life of HEIs. The choice for a qualitative methodological option is justified by the interest in conducting deep analyzes that exceed the limit of superficiality, allowing a more complete understanding of the facts and variables that touch the investigated object. The study reveals that weaknesses remain to the time, since at the end of the First Republic, problems such as lack of university structure were evident; thus revealing the need to establish public policies capable of better structuring Higher Education in Brazil.