Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri

About Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri

UFVJM is an independent federal university within Brazil’s public higher-education system. It was legally formed in 2005 when the Faculdades Federais Integradas de Diamantina were transformed into the present university. Its predecessor began as a dentistry school founded in Diamantina in 1953, so the institution’s academic history is considerably older than its university status. The university operates five campuses in four municipalities. Campus I and Campus JK are in Diamantina, Campus do Mucuri is in Teófilo Otoni, and the other campuses are in Janaúba and Unaí. This distribution is central to UFVJM’s identity: the institution was developed to broaden access to federal higher education in the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri valleys and later extended into northern and northwestern Minas Gerais. UFVJM combines undergraduate teaching with research, postgraduate education, and community extension. Its official course directory organizes offerings by campus and distinguishes in-person undergraduate courses, distance education, and postgraduate study. Applicants should therefore treat UFVJM as a multicampus institution rather than assume that every subject or service is available in Diamantina. Campus selection affects the academic unit, daily environment, housing market, and access to university assistance. The university remains operational and was enrolling students in undergraduate courses during 2026.

For mainstream in-person undergraduate entry in 2026, UFVJM used Brazil’s Sistema de Seleção Unificada, or SiSU, based on Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio results, alongside its own serial selection route, SASI. For courses beginning in the first semester, the university stated that 50% of places were filled through SiSU/Enem and the remainder through SASI. For second-semester courses, all places were assigned through SiSU/Enem. The 2026 SiSU application period ran from 19 to 23 January 2026 and accepted results from the 2023, 2024, or 2025 Enem, using the edition that produced the applicant’s best weighted average for the selected course. Applicants needed a score above zero in the essay and could not have taken the examination solely as a non-graduating practice candidate. Those dates are historical and must not be reused for 2027; future applicants should consult UFVJM’s selection office and the national access portal for the new notice. UFVJM also lists separate routes for distance education, field education, applicants aged 60 or older, remaining places, simplified selection, and certain course transitions. Eligibility and documentation differ by route. International applicants should not assume that SiSU is their only or appropriate pathway: the reviewed sources did not provide a single general 2026/2027 international undergraduate procedure. Graduate admission is decentralized through program-specific calls, with separate requirements, documents, and deadlines.

UFVJM offers undergraduate and postgraduate study across a broad disciplinary range. Its official course directory includes programs connected to health sciences, biological sciences, agriculture, engineering, technology, education, humanities, social sciences, and professional fields. Examples documented in the university’s institutional history include Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Nutrition, Physiotherapy, Agronomy, Forestry Engineering, Animal Science, Information Systems, Tourism, medicine, and several engineering disciplines. Availability depends on campus, and applicants should consult the directory and the current course notice rather than treating this as a university-wide list. Undergraduate provision includes bachelor’s and teacher-education pathways, as well as some distance-learning offerings. Curricula and requirements are defined through each course’s Projeto Pedagógico do Curso, or PPC. These documents are important decision tools because they show the curriculum, sequencing, practical components, and the stage at which an internship may begin. At postgraduate level, UFVJM’s current official listing reports 27 stricto sensu programs, with master’s and doctoral provision. The page identifies academic master’s, professional master’s, and doctoral options and states that these programs are recommended by CAPES and formally recognized through the national system. Fields listed include public administration, animal science, biofuels, animal biology, food science and technology, forestry science, and nutrition sciences, among others. Graduate applicants apply through program-specific notices, so requirements and calendars are not interchangeable across departments.

Key Highlights

• Federal public university operating under the Brazilian government
• Five campuses distributed across Diamantina, Teófilo Otoni, Janaúba, and Unaí
• Created as UFVJM in 2005 from predecessor institutions dating to 1953
• Active undergraduate enrollment confirmed for 2026

Student Life & Environment

Student experience varies by campus and municipality. UFVJM’s student-affairs office administers accessibility, inclusion, social-service support, and a set of assistance benefits intended primarily for students in socioeconomic vulnerability. Benefits listed across the university include maintenance, housing, accommodation, food, teaching-material, emergency, and inter-campus transport support, but the mix is campus-specific and places or payments are not automatic. Students must follow the relevant semester’s notice and complete a socioeconomic assessment. Diamantina has a university student residence for eligible, regularly enrolled, in-person undergraduates whose families live outside the city. Applications follow a published selection process, and demand should not be interpreted as a guarantee of accommodation. Other campuses use different forms of housing or accommodation assistance. UFVJM’s 2026 student-affairs pages also show active benefit calls and payment calendars. Academic life can extend beyond classes through research, extension, international mobility, and supervised practical work. Accessibility services include educational guidance and Portuguese–Libras translation or interpretation. Because facilities differ among the five campuses, prospective students should verify dining, transport, accessibility, sports, and study-space arrangements for their intended location before committing. In Diamantina, official 2026 material indicated that the Campus JK university restaurant was still under development, so students should not assume that a completed restaurant service is available there without checking the latest notice.

Location & Surroundings

UFVJM’s headquarters are in Diamantina, a municipality in Minas Gerais’s Jequitinhonha region. The city contains two distinct university sites: the historic Campus I and the larger Campus Juscelino Kubitschek. Students should confirm which site hosts their course because commuting patterns and nearby services may differ. The Diamantina student residence is at a separate address in the city. The university’s footprint extends well beyond its headquarters. Campus do Mucuri is in Teófilo Otoni in eastern Minas Gerais, while Janaúba serves the state’s northern region and Unaí lies in northwestern Minas Gerais. These are separate municipalities rather than branches within easy daily travel of Diamantina. A student’s selected program therefore determines not just a campus but a different local housing market and regional setting. This multicampus structure suits applicants interested in studying in inland Minas Gerais and in an institution oriented toward regional access and development. It also makes campus-level planning essential. Before enrolling, students should compare the exact teaching address, transport options, accommodation availability, climate, and distance from their support network for the municipality attached to their course.

Costs & Career Outcomes

UFVJM is a federal public university. Brazil’s Constitution establishes free public education in official institutions, so regular public degree study is not structured around the tuition charged by private universities. This does not make attendance cost-free: students remain responsible for housing, food, transport, materials, personal expenses, and any optional or exceptional administrative services. No reliable university-wide 2026 estimate of these living costs was identified, and expenses should be budgeted for the particular campus city rather than for Diamantina alone. UFVJM provides needs-based assistance through semester-specific selection. Depending on campus, listed support can include maintenance, housing or accommodation, food, teaching materials, emergency aid, and transport between university spaces. Eligibility requires socioeconomic evaluation, benefits vary by location, and applicants should not include an award in their financial plan until formally selected. Diamantina’s student residence is restricted to qualifying in-person undergraduates and has limited, competitively allocated places. Career preparation is principally course-based. Each undergraduate pedagogical plan determines whether an internship is required or optional and when it may begin. Under the university’s current regulations, internships require active enrollment, a signed commitment agreement, an activity plan, academic supervision, workplace supervision, and accident insurance. UFVJM supplies insurance for mandatory internships, while the host organization normally handles it for non-mandatory placements. The university publishes opportunities, but the sources reviewed do not support a university-wide placement rate, graduate salary, or named-employer claim.