This article aims to investigate the spatial effect of the quality of human capital and to identify if there is educational spillover from higher education in the proficiencies of elementary students. Although the role of geographical aspects has been studied in several academic areas, in the literature on the economics of education such studies are incipient and the few existing contributions use the stock of education as the object of analysis. The present study differs by using proficiency as a proxy for quality and also by examining the spillover effect of the presence and quality of university courses in the area of education. The results indicate a strong spatial dependence, suggesting the spatial dimension influences school performance. On the other hand, higher education institutions influence school performance in the municipality of origin, but not that of neighboring municipalities.

This study analyzes the distribution of education in terms of quality and quantity in Brazilian municipalities during the first decade of 2000 to investigate how educational improvement was distributed to municipalities with different levels of income and education. Given the considerable educational heterogeneity and the lack of studies at the municipal level, the aim is to contribute to this debate by (1) applying the pro‐poor growth measurement methodology to indicators of educational quantity and quality (2) using the Brazilian municipalities as units of analysis, and (3) conducting estimations using the Growth Incidence Curve. The results indicate that there was an improvement in the quantity and quality of education and that, on average, educational growth can be considered pro‐poor.