The University of São Paulo (Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is one of the three public universities funded by the State of São Paulo.

USP is the largest institution of higher education in Brazil and the third largest in South America, with approximately 50,000 students enrolled (as of 2004). USP is comprised of six campuses, its primary one being in the City of São Paulo. The other five are located in the interior of the state, in the cities of Bauru, Piracicaba, Pirassununga, Ribeirão Preto, São Carlos and São Sebastião.

In the "search for alternatives" period in the 1930s, political centralization and the first attempt to provide Brazil with modern administrative, military, and educational institutions took place. The main initiatives included the University of São Paulo (Universidade de São Paulo--USP), which was created in 1934 as the country's first university. Its nucleus was a School of Philosophy, Sciences, and Letters, with professors coming from France, Italy, Germany, and other European countries. The USP also brought together several research and higher education institutions in the state, such as the School of Medicine (Faculdade de Medicina), the Polytechnical School (Escola Politécnica), and the School of Law (Faculdade de Direito). (The Polytechnical School includes civil, electrical, mechanical, mining, metallurgical, naval and oceanographic, and chemical engineering departments.) The USP became and still is one of Brazil's main academic and research institution.

External links

• Universidade de São Paulo (in English)
• Universidade de São Paulo (in Portuguese)

See also

• State University of Campinas - UNICAMP - WWW page
• State University of São Paulo - UNESP - WWW Page