Federal University of Minas Gerais
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais's oldest university: tuition-free, entered via ENEM and SISU, with 97 degree courses.
- Students
- 52,176
- 34,047 undergraduates
- Tuition
- Free
- 2027
- Founded
- 1927
- QS World Ranking
- #600
- 2027 edition
About UFMG
The Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) was founded in 1927, when the law, medicine, engineering and dentistry-and-pharmacy schools of Belo Horizonte merged, and it became a federal university in 1949. It is the oldest university in Minas Gerais and, like all Brazilian federal universities, charges no tuition. Most teaching happens on the Pampulha campus in Belo Horizonte, with a health campus (Campus Saúde) and a campus in Montes Claros in the north of the state.
UFMG offers 97 undergraduate courses to more than 34,000 on-campus undergraduates, alongside over 90 graduate programmes with about 13,000 graduate students. It is organised into 20 academic units, from the Faculdade de Direito, which traces its roots to the 1890s, to the Escola de Engenharia, the Faculdade de Medicina and the Instituto de Ciências Exatas. Several courses start through an ABI (área básica de ingresso), where you enter a broad area such as Computer Science and Information Systems and choose the final degree later.
Admission is almost entirely by exam score: Brazilian applicants compete with their ENEM results through the national SISU system, and half of the places in every course are reserved for students from public schools. The university suits students who are comfortable studying in Portuguese, want a large, research-active public university and are prepared to compete hard on a national exam.
Incipit Vita Nova
“A new life begins” — university motto
Why students choose UFMG
There is no tuition: UFMG is a public federal university, and its 2027 entry places are filled through ENEM and SISU.
Breadth is unusual for a free university: 97 undergraduate courses in 2026, from Aerospace Engineering and Data Science to Medicine, Museology and Music.
UFMG reports that 95% of its undergraduate courses are among the best in Brazil in Ministry of Education evaluations, and it ranks 5th in Brazil in the QS World University Rankings 2027.
Its alumni include presidents Juscelino Kubitschek and Tancredo Neves and writers Carlos Drummond de Andrade and João Guimarães Rosa.
Admissions
SISU/UFMG 2027 (entry in 2027, using ENEM 2026 or earlier)
Selectivity
UFMG does not publish an overall admit rate. In SISU 2026 it offered 6,552 places in Belo Horizonte and Montes Claros, half reserved for students who did all of secondary school in public schools. Large courses include Medicine (320 places) and daytime Law (200). Competition depends on the course and quota category.
Typical entry requirements
| Brazilian secondary education (Ensino Médio) + ENEM | Apply through SISU with ENEM results from 2024, 2025 or 2026. In each course, 50% of places are reserved under Brazil's quota law for students who did all of secondary school in public schools, with sub-quotas by family income, race and disability; the rest are open competition. |
|---|---|
| Seriado UFMG (three-year serial exam) | An alternative route with one exam in each year of secondary school. The first cycle (2025-2027) sits stage 2 in November 2026, so it does not yet fill 2027 places. Candidates can also compete through ENEM/SISU. |
| PEC-G (foreign students from partner countries) | UFMG takes part in Brazil's PEC-G programme for students from partner countries, who apply through the Brazilian government and commit to return home after graduating. Portuguese proficiency (Celpe-Bras) is required for admission to undergraduate courses. |
| English language | Undergraduate teaching is in Portuguese. UFMG states that the Celpe-Bras Portuguese certificate is mandatory for admission to undergraduate courses for foreign students. |
Deadlines
- SISU 2026 waiting-list calls (past cycle, for reference) Non-binding Passed19 February 2026
UFMG's first waiting-list call for 2026 came out from 19 February 2026, and waiting-list candidates had to confirm interest by 23 February. Calls continued into September 2026 for second-semester places.
- ENEM 2026 (national exam) Non-binding Next deadline · In 33 days8 and 15 November 2026
Required to compete for SISU/UFMG 2027 places unless you already took ENEM in 2024 or 2025. Registration with INEP has closed.
UFMG's SISU 2027 notice (rectified 25 May 2026) confirms the courses offered in 2027 and the ENEM editions accepted; SISU 2027 dates, the number of places and the full edital have not been published yet. SISU usually runs early in the calendar year.
How to apply
Register for and sit ENEM 2026 (8 and 15 November 2026) with INEP. Then apply through the Ministry of Education's SISU platform when the 2027 edition opens, choosing UFMG courses and your competition category (open or a quota category, completing the socioeconomic profile). Selected candidates must complete academic registration and prove quota eligibility. Unfilled places go to UFMG's own waiting-list calls. Foreign nationals from partner countries apply through PEC-G.
What admissions looks for
- A high ENEM score for your chosen course: SISU ranks candidates by their ENEM result within each course, shift and competition category.
- For quota places, proof that you did all of secondary school in public schools and, where relevant, documents on family income, race or disability.
- For Visual Arts, Animation, Dance, Fashion Design and Music, a strong result in UFMG's specific skills tests alongside ENEM.
- For PEC-G students, completed secondary school and Portuguese proficiency.
Tips for applying to UFMG
- 1 Sit ENEM 2026 on 8 and 15 November: without a 2024, 2025 or 2026 ENEM score you cannot enter UFMG through SISU in 2027.
- 2 Check whether your course is an ABI entry, such as Computer Science and Information Systems: you enter a broad area and choose the final degree later.
- 3 Keep checking ufmg.br/sisu after the main SISU call: in 2026 UFMG ran at least 14 waiting-list calls, and candidates had only a few days to confirm interest.
- 4 If you are in Brazil's early secondary years, consider the Seriado UFMG, which spreads the entrance exam over three years without stopping you from using ENEM.
Costs & financial aid
2027 · figures in BRL
Tuition is free. Student support (grants, food and housing) is provided through the Fundação Universitária Mendes Pimentel (FUMP), which helped 9,552 students in 2025. UFMG runs five university restaurants and five student residences.
- 9,552
- Students supported by FUMP (2025)
- 7,201
- Meals served daily in university restaurants
- 3,285 of 6,552 (about 50%)
- SISU 2026 places reserved for public-school students
Academics
Academic calendar: Semesters (SISU places are filled for both the first and second semesters)
Medicine
UFMG's largest single SISU course, with 320 places in 2026 and teaching linked to the Hospital das Clínicas complex; alumni include Juscelino Kubitschek and Ivo Pitanguy.
Law (Direito)
Taught at a faculty older than the university itself, with day and evening shifts (200 daytime places in 2026); alumni include Tancredo Neves and Ziraldo.
Computer Science and Information Systems (ABI)
A 200-place entry route in 2026 in which students choose between Computer Science and Information Systems after starting.
Aerospace Engineering
One of more than a dozen engineering courses in UFMG's 2027 list, alongside Mining, Control and Automation, and Chemical Engineering.
Economics (Ciências Econômicas)
Taught at Face, home to the Cedeplar regional development and planning centre.
Research
- UFMG reports 8,925 research projects under way, 753 CNPq research groups and 95 patent filings in 2025.
- Cedeplar, the Centre for Regional Development and Planning at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, is one of UFMG's complementary research centres.
- UFMG runs two university hospitals with 885 beds, a veterinary hospital and 25 museums and science centres.
Schools & faculties
- Escola de Arquitetura
- Escola de Belas Artes
- Escola de Engenharia
- Escola de Música
- Escola de Veterinária
- Faculdade de Ciências Econômicas (Face)
- Faculdade de Direito
- Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (Fafich)
- Faculdade de Letras (Fale)
- Faculdade de Medicina
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB)
- Instituto de Ciências Exatas (Icex)
Student life
Most students spend their days on the Pampulha campus, a large green site of lawns, avenues and faculty buildings in Belo Horizonte, while health courses are based on the Campus Saúde. UFMG runs five university restaurants serving about 7,200 meals a day, five student residences and 25 museums and science centres. Student teams build things such as radio-controlled aircraft for competitions, and each July a two-week Summer School on Brazilian Studies is taught in English on the Pampulha campus.
- Five university restaurants serve around 7,200 meals a day.
- 25 museums and science centres, plus three experimental farms.
- A Minor in International Studies taught in English or Spanish, open to exchange students.
- UFMG celebrates its centenary in 2027 and has launched a site marking the anniversary.
Housing. UFMG has five student residences (moradias universitárias); places are limited, so most students rent privately in Belo Horizonte.
Location
Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, is one of Brazil's largest cities and the base for most of UFMG. The main administration and the largest number of buildings are on the Pampulha campus, with the Campus Saúde for health courses and a third campus in Montes Claros in the north of the state. Studying here means living in a big Brazilian city, in Portuguese, at no tuition cost.
Nearest airport: Belo Horizonte-Confins International Airport (CNF)
Notable alumni
- JK Juscelino KubitschekPresident of Brazil 1956-1961 who built Brasília; studied at UFMG's Faculty of Medicine
- TN Tancredo NevesPrime minister 1961-1962 and president-elect of Brazil in 1985; studied at the Faculty of Law
- DR Dilma RousseffPresident of Brazil 2011-2016; began economics studies at UFMG before being expelled under the military regime (she graduated from UFRGS in 1977)
- CD Carlos Drummond de AndradeOne of Brazil's greatest poets; studied at the Faculty of Pharmacy
- JG João Guimarães RosaNovelist and diplomat, author of Grande Sertão: Veredas; studied at the Faculty of Medicine
- IP Ivo PitanguyPioneering plastic surgeon and member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters; studied at the Faculty of Medicine
- T Tostão1970 World Cup-winning footballer, later a doctor and writer; studied at the Faculty of Medicine
- SR Samuel RosaSinger, songwriter and guitarist, former frontman of Skank; psychology degree
Frequently asked questions
Is UFMG free?
Yes. UFMG is a public federal university and charges no tuition to Brazilian or foreign students. Living costs are your own, though FUMP supports students in need with grants, food and housing.
How do I get into UFMG in 2027?
Take ENEM (the 2026 exam is on 8 and 15 November 2026; 2024 and 2025 scores are also accepted) and apply through SISU when the 2027 edition opens. A few arts courses use the Habilidades UFMG process instead.
What is UFMG's acceptance rate?
UFMG does not publish one. It offered 6,552 SISU places in 2026, and selection is purely by ENEM score within each course and quota category.
Can international students study at UFMG?
Yes, mainly through Brazil's PEC-G programme for students from partner countries, or through exchange agreements. Degree courses are taught in Portuguese, and the Celpe-Bras certificate is required for undergraduate admission.
What is Seriado UFMG?
An entrance process spread over three exams, one in each year of secondary school. The first cycle runs from 2025 to 2027, and taking part does not stop you from also applying through ENEM/SISU.
Sources & methodology
Figures on this page were checked against official university publications, national application services and ranking publishers in September 2026. Each number is shown with the year or admissions cycle it describes. Always confirm deadlines and fees on the university's own website before applying.
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