Federal University of São Carlos

What Federal University of São Carlos does

The Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) is a Brazilian public federal university established in 1968 in São Carlos, São Paulo state, operating under the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC). It delivers tuition-free undergraduate education, graduate programs, and scientific research across five campuses located in São Carlos, Araras, Sorocaba, Lagoa do Sino (Buri), and São José do Rio Preto. Its primary constituents are undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty/researchers, with technical-administrative staff supporting operations and extension services reaching the broader community.

UFSCar's academic portfolio spans research, teaching, and extension. Research output is anchored by grants from FAPESP and other public funding agencies including CNPq, CAPES, and Finep; the QS World University Rankings places UFSCar among Brazil's top 11 universities and within the top three nationally for citations per faculty member. Recent outputs include a muscle-fatigue sensor recognized at an international electrochemistry congress in Lisbon, a faculty-authored book on business decision-making that addresses the role of artificial intelligence in the decision process, and applied health initiatives such as a breast cancer prevention program at the university hospital (HU-UFSCar). Institutional web infrastructure runs on the Plone open-source content management system; undergraduate admissions operate through the national SiSU unified selection system; and extension programming is administered via ProEx (Pró-Reitoria de Extensão) and the General Secretariat of Art and Culture.

The institution's revenue model is non-commercial: no tuition is charged at the undergraduate level, graduate program fees vary, and federal education budgets and research grants constitute the primary funding base. Distribution of educational services is handled centrally through the Ministry of Education's SiSU platform for undergraduate admissions and pro-reitorias for graduate, extension, and community programs. Outreach and stakeholder communication rely on the institutional portal (ufscar.br), WhatsApp channels segmented by audience (undergraduate, graduate, staff, external community), social media, and event programming including the 15th Cinema and Human Rights Showcase co-organized with the federal Ministries of Human Rights and Culture, SCX Matchmaking industry engagement, and the 'Você na UFSCar' 2026 outreach program.

Name

Federal University of São Carlos

Legal name

Universidade Federal de São Carlos

Website

https://ufscar.br

Company type

Public

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Short description

UFSCar is a Brazilian public federal university in São Paulo state delivering tuition-free undergraduate, graduate, and research programs across five campuses. It serves students, researchers, and the broader community, ranked among Brazil's top 11 universities by QS Rankings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

São Carlos

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

UFSCar is a public federal university that delivers tuition-free undergraduate higher education, paid graduate (master's and doctoral) degree programs, scientific research initiatives, and community extension services across five campuses in São Paulo state, Brazil. The institution is funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) and research agencies such as FAPESP, CNPq, CAPES, and Finep, and operates supporting facilities including a university hospital, libraries, and cultural programming.

Product overview

Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) is a public Brazilian university offering higher education across five campuses (São Carlos, Araras, Sorocaba, Lagoa do Sino, and São José do Rio Preto). UFSCar does not offer commercial products or services; it provides academic education, research, and extension programs. The institution operates institutional websites built on the Plone open-source content management system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Undergraduate Degree Programs

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered moderate, minor and core.

• Ministério dos Direitos Humanos e CidadaniamoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for organizing the 15th Cinema and Human Rights Showcase, with coordination through the university's General Secretariat of Arts and Culture (SeAC).
• Ministério da CulturamoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the 15th Cinema and Human Rights Showcase in partnership with the Ministry of Human Rights.
• Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the national organization of the Cinema and Human Rights Showcase.
• MDA (Ministério do Desenvolvimento Agrário)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to strengthen cooperativism and family agriculture, connecting knowledge with territorial demands and promoting income generation and sustainable rural development.
• DenaSUSmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for breast cancer prevention and combat actions at HU (University Hospital).
• MEC (Ministério da Educação)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMinistry of Education partners with UFSCar for various educational initiatives including online courses and the unified selection system (SiSU).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC): A northeastern Brazilian federal university already partnered with UFSCar in the Cinema and Human Rights Showcase. UFC shares the federal funding model, multi-campus structure, and research-intense profile that defines UFSCar's operating template.
• Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE): A leading northeastern Brazilian federal university and a frequent peer in national rankings. UFPE offers the same MEC-funded, multi-campus, graduate-research model as UFSCar and competes for the same federal talent pools.
• Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ): Brazil's oldest federal university and another top QS-ranked institution. UFRJ shares UFSCar's MEC-funded, multi-campus research profile and competes for the same federal research grants and graduate-student talent pool nationally.
• Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP): A São Paulo-state public university with the largest multi-campus footprint among Brazilian universities. UNESP directly competes with UFSCar for São Paulo state-level funding, faculty, and students, particularly across UNESP's many interior campuses.
• Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC): A leading southern Brazilian federal university with a comparable research output and QS ranking position. UFSC mirrors UFSCar's federal funding structure and STEM/research profile at slightly smaller scale.
• Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP): A São Paulo-state public university with a comparable research-intensive profile, located near São Carlos. UNICAMP is the closest institutional analog to UFSCar in terms of size, FAPESP funding intensity, and graduate-program focus, and competes head-to-head for STEM faculty and graduate students.
• Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG): One of Brazil's largest federal universities and a perennial top-5 QS-ranked institution. UFMG offers the same federal funding model, multi-campus structure, and research intensity as UFSCar, making it the primary non-São Paulo benchmark for scale and citation performance.
• Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS): A major southern Brazilian federal university with a similar research-intensive profile and QS top-20 national ranking. UFRGS is a like-for-like peer for UFSCar on federal funding dependency, graduate-program depth, and multi-campus operations.

Broad incumbents

• Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV): A prestigious private Brazilian university and think tank with strong presence in São Paulo. FGV competes with UFSCar for graduate students and policy-research talent, particularly in business and social sciences, while operating with greater autonomy and revenue diversification.
• Universidade de São Paulo (USP): Brazil's largest and highest-ranked federal/state-affiliated university, headquartered in São Paulo state like UFSCar. USP competes for the same faculty, graduate students, and FAPESP research funding pool, and serves as the benchmark against which UFSCar measures its QS rankings position.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ufscar_comunica
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ufscar

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Federal University of São Carlos