Top Universities in Brazil

164 universities in Brazil with a measured position, 5 of them ranked worldwide.

#UniversityCityWorld rankIn-countryCitations
1 Universidade de São Paulo #108 (2026) #1 23,347,468
2 Universidade Estadual de Campinas #233 (2026) #2 8,427,033
3 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro #317 (2026) #3 8,141,103
4 Universidade Estadual Paulista #450 (2026) #4 7,497,761
5 Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro #595 (2024) #5 929,658
6 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul not ranked #6 6,955,255
7 Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais not ranked #7 6,068,546
8 Universidade Federal de São Paulo not ranked #8 4,478,537
9 Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro not ranked #9 3,459,631
10 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina not ranked #10 3,282,629
11 Universidade Federal do Paraná not ranked #11 2,643,886
12 Universidade Federal de São Carlos not ranked #12 2,579,813
13 Universidade Federal do Ceará not ranked #13 2,398,103
14 Universidade Federal de Santa Maria not ranked #14 2,340,305
15 Universidade Federal de Pernambuco not ranked #15 2,270,720
16 Universidade de Brasília not ranked #16 2,252,776
17 Universidade Federal de Viçosa not ranked #17 2,140,540
18 Universidade Federal da Bahia not ranked #18 1,828,883
19 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte not ranked #19 1,719,978
20 Universidade Federal Fluminense not ranked #20 1,711,180
21 Universidade Federal de Pelotas not ranked #21 1,691,295
22 Universidade Estadual de Maringá not ranked #22 1,605,218
23 Universidade de Ribeirão Preto not ranked #23 1,541,851
24 Universidade Federal de Goiás not ranked #24 1,390,925
25 Universidade Federal da Paraíba not ranked #25 1,356,712
26 Universidade Estadual de Londrina not ranked #26 1,241,593
27 Universidade Federal do Pará not ranked #27 1,222,919
28 Universidade Federal de Lavras not ranked #29 1,154,470
29 Universidade Federal de Uberlândia not ranked #28 1,151,684
30 Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora not ranked #30 1,103,616
31 Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo not ranked #32 1,061,858
32 Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul not ranked #31 1,044,957
33 Universidade Federal do ABC not ranked #33 1,009,567
34 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande not ranked #34 863,833
35 Universidade Camilo Castelo Branco not ranked #35 758,379
36 Universidade Federal de Sergipe not ranked #36 720,734
37 Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco not ranked #37 688,721
38 Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná not ranked #38 671,392
39 Universidade do Rio de Janeiro not ranked #39 608,461
40 Universidade Federal de Campina Grande not ranked #40 604,043
41 Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul not ranked #41 597,955
42 Universidade Federal do Piauí not ranked #42 583,310
43 Universidade Federal de Alagoas not ranked #43 551,043
44 Pontificia Universidade Católica do Paraná not ranked #44 524,940
45 Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro not ranked #45 507,769
46 Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto not ranked #46 504,441
47 Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso not ranked #47 502,454
48 Centro Universitário de Araraquara not ranked #48 456,263
49 Universidade Federal do Maranhão not ranked #49 454,852
50 Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina not ranked #50 438,548
1 2 3 4

What the two columns mean

In-country is the position the ranking record gives the university among those in its own country, and it is often the more useful number: a university ranked 480th in the world may still be third at home. It is carried over as published, so it does not always follow the order of the other two columns. World rank is the university's QS World University Rankings position. Citations are the number of times work published by the university has been cited, as recorded in OpenAlex; it is the measure used to order universities that QS does not rank at all.

The two do not always agree. A large research university can out-cite a smaller one that sits above it in QS, because QS weighs reputation surveys and staff ratios as well as research.

Rankings in other countries

USA 138 ranked UK 55 ranked Germany 40 ranked China 37 ranked Australia 31 ranked Canada 26 ranked France 19 ranked Italy 18 ranked South Korea 17 ranked Japan 16 ranked Spain 15 ranked Switzerland 13 ranked