Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Portuguese:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS; known as Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul, URGS, between 1947 and 1950) is one of the largest federal universities in Brazil. It is almost completely located in Porto Alegre, with four campuses (Campus Centro, Campus Saúde, Campus Olímpico and Campus do Vale), a few off-campus buildings (e.g. the Business School and the Institute of Arts) and some units in other cities. UFRGS is among the most highly rated Brazilian universities, and has one of the highest numbers of scientific publications. UFRGS has over 27,000 undergraduate students and over 9,300 graduate students. The university has more than 2,500 professors. As a public federal institution, the students do not have to pay tuition fees to enroll in the courses offered by the university. To be admitted to one of the courses offered by UFRGS, a candidate must be approved in a yearly competitive exam, called the vestibular.