University of São Paulo (USP) is the largest Brazilian public university and the most important university in the country, and one of the most important in Ibero-America, in the Portuguese-speaking world and one of the most prestigious in the world. USP is one of the largest higher education institutions in Latin America. There are 42 teaching and research units, distributed over ten campuses: São Paulo (with three campuses), Bauru, Lorena, Piracicaba, Pirassununga, Ribeirão Preto, Santos and São Carlos. The main campus in São Paulo is called Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles Oliveira, with an area of 7,443,770 square meters. The institution is involved in teaching, research and university extension in all areas of knowledge. Adding all campuses, USP has a total of 246 undergraduate courses, 229 graduate courses, 5,800 professors and 93,000 students enrolled between undergraduate and graduate courses (2012).

According to SCImago Institutions Rankings' 2020 world report (SIR World Report), USP is ranked in the sixty-first position worldwide among the ranked international research and teaching institutions. In 2018, according to the University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP), USP remains the best Iberoamerican university and is placed in the thirty-sixth position in the world. In 2015, USP was appointed as the first university in Latin America. THE ranked the institution as the 10th best university in the BRICS and other developing countries in 2015.

Among Brazilian public universities, it has the largest number of undergraduate and graduate courses, and is also responsible for one of the highest number of formed masters and doctors in the world, as well as responsible for half of all scientific production in the state of São Paulo. and more than 25% of the Brazilian. As Brazil is responsible for about 2% of the world's scientific production, it can be said that USP is responsible for 0.5% of the world's scientific research. In addition, among postgraduate courses in Brazil with concepts 6 and 7 (the highest concepts) of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel Capes, 25% are at USP, reaching the percentage of 55% if only the territory of São Paulo is considered.

Created in 1934, the contribution of this university to Brazilian history is quite relevant: thirteen of the forty-three Brazilian presidents graduated from higher education in the institution, such as sociologist Fernando Henrique Cardoso and lawyer Jânio Quadros - this one the latter and ten others only at the Faculty of Law, which also trained 53 ministers in the history of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and whose foundation precedes that of the university itself in 108 years.

Today USP has five hospitals. The university houses altogether 24 museums and galleries – with half a million visitors a year – two theaters, a cinema, a TV channel and an orchestra. The University of São Paulo welcomes people from all continents and stimulates this process via networks and consortiums like FLAUC which USP attend with great honor.