Top Universities in Brazil

Also known as São Paulo State University, the Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP) is a public, multi-campus university that accommodates a combined student body of almost 50,000 across its 23 campuses. UNESP has 33 faculties or institutes, 30 libraries, two hospitals, three animal hospitals and even five farms. It also has several complementary units including the Institute for Theoretical Physics (Instituto de Física Teórica). UNESP offers courses in a wide variety of subjects in the sciences, engineering and technology, humanities, social sciences and arts.

Ranking at 25^th in the QS University Rankings: BRICS, the Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” joins other top universities in Brazil in boasting one of the highest ratios of staff with a PhD in the BRICS group. It scores relatively well across all eight of the indicators used to compile the ranking, though doesn’t rate as well as other leading Brazilian institutions for research impact. Following the national trend, international student ratio is a relatively weaker point – but UNESP beats the three Brazilian universities above on this indicator.

Initially specializing just in health sciences, the Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) is now a multi-subject university with six campuses. The oldest campus in Vila Clementino, São Paulo, retains the focus on health, as does the campus at Santos, São Paulo. Of the other campuses, the one in Guarulhos specializes in humanities, Diadema in science and engineering, São José dos Campos in computer science and mathematics and Osasco in business-related subjects. Alongside traditional degree study, UNIFESP also offers extension programs, an open university for mature students, and a virtual university for distance learning.

UNIFESP comes in at 29^th place in the QS University Rankings: BRICS and, once again, boasts one of the ranking’s highest scores for percentage of staff with a PhD. UNIFESP also has an impressive score for research impact, ranking 18^th in the BRICS countries for research citations per paper – a stronger score than any of the other top universities in Brazil listed here. It also beats most of its Brazilian competitors on the faculty-student ratio indicator. The only field in which its score slips is international student intake.

Another of Brazil’s largest federal universities, the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) is located in Belo Horizante, the capital city of the state of Minas Gerais. UFMG offers 75 undergraduate degrees, across a broad subject spectrum. It also offers PhD, MSc, Post-Baccalaureate and medical internship programs to its community of almost 46,000 students. It’s especially well known for the quality of its computer science and social sciences programs.

Ranked 35^th in the QS University Rankings: BRICS, the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais shares many of the same strengths and weaknesses as other top universities in Brazil. Again, it has an excellent score for percentage of PhD-qualified staff, while lagging behind many other BRICS universities when it comes to international student enrollments – though faring much better on international faculty recruitment. It has a strong reputation among academics, and scores well for both research productivity and impact, with faculty-to-student ratio being its weakest area.

The highest ranking Catholic university in the QS University Rankings: BRICS, the Pontificia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP) is a non-profit private university with almost 20,000 students and a staff of 1,500. Headed by the Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo, PUC-SP offers courses in science and technology (primarily taught in the Consolação campus), business and economics (at the Santana campus), and medical sciences and health (taught in the city of Sorocaba). A fourth campus in the city of Barueri also offers courses in business, economics, physical therapy and psychology.

The Pontificia Universidade Católica de São Paulo comes in at 36^th in the BRICS ranking, getting its highest scores for employer reputation and faculty-to-staff ratio – on the latter indicator it beats all of the other top universities in Brazil included in this top 10. Its percentage of staff with a PhD, on the other hand, lags a little behind those of the top public universities, as do its scores for research production and impact.

Although almost completely located in Porto Alegre in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) has four campuses (Campus Centro, Campus Saúde, Campus Olímpico and Campus do Vale) and scattered buildings representing the Business School and the Institute of Arts. It also has a hospital located in the center of Porto Alegre. Catering to almost 33,000 students, UFRGS is notable in producing many alumni who have gone on to prominent positions in governmental and non-governmental organizations, including three Brazilian presidents.

The Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul is ranked 38^th in the QS University Rankings: BRICS, and follows the national trend in boasting one of the ranking’s top scores for percentage of staff with a PhD, and a very strong reputation among academics – though not quite as highly reputed among employers. Like most of Brazil’s top institutions, it compares less favorably with other BRICS universities for number of academic staff employed per student enrolled.

The second private non-profit Catholic university to feature among Brazil’s top universities is the Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), maintained by the Catholic Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro and the Society of Jesus. Offering courses in subjects such as business and international relations, computer science, economics, engineering, law and psychology, PUC-Rio has approximately 17,900 students, 800 academic staff and a large campus in Rio de Janeiro.

Ranked 41^st in the QS University Rankings: BRICS, the Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro has a good academic reputation score, along with a good ranking for its percentage of international faculty and staff with a PhD. Like other top universities in Brazil, it doesn’t score so well for international student intake or faculty-student ratio when compared to other BRICS institutions. However, when compared to the other nine universities listed here, it has the strongest score for international student representation, but weakest faculty-student ratio.

Rounding off the top 10 universities in Brazil, the Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar) places 43= in the BRICS ranking. Located in São Carlos, in the state of São Paulo, UFSCar has an enrolment of around 14,000 students, and 1,000 academic staff based across three campuses – two in São Carlos and one in Sorocaba. A new, rural campus at a farm in Lagoa do Sino is also available, which focuses on courses in food security, family agriculture and sustainable development. Rich in facilities, UFSCar hosts more than 321 laboratories, two libraries, and a host of theaters, auditoriums, gyms, sports centers, restaurants and classrooms.

The Universidade Federal de São Carlos scores fairly consistently well across most of the indicators used in the ranking, getting its strongest score for percentage of staff with a PhD and its weakest for international student ratio. Again, its performance is reflective of overall trends in Brazilian higher education, with the new BRICS ranking highlighting Brazilian universities’ strengths in research production and influence, recruitment of international staff and highly qualified faculty members – while areas for improvement are international student enrolments and ratio of academic staff to students.

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