Universidade Federal de São Carlos

On December 13, 1960, a federal statute determined the creation of a university in São Carlos. On December 1, 1968, a presidential decree was enacted to create that university and a commission was formed to coordinate the project. The result was the Federal University of São Carlos, the first federal university in São Paulo state.

Thancham's farm, localized on the border of Washington Luís highway, was chosen as the initial site. Farm buildings were adapted to provide administration, classrooms, and laboratories. In March 1970, it received its first 96 students for the science and materials engineering degree.

The university started with a strong emphasis on natural sciences. This profile changed during the 1990s, when UFSCar created more courses, departments, and added graduate programs in the humanities.

The first three academic centers were created in the 1970s. The Center for Science and Technology (CCET, in Portuguese) and the Center for Life Sciences and Health (CCBS, in Portuguese), the Education Centre and Human Sciences (CECH, in Portuguese) along with the undergraduate Biological Sciences degree were created in 1972. The first health program, undergraduate Nursing, deployed in 1977. In 1994 an undergraduate program in Physical Education began.

By the end of the 80s, the humanities professors were linked mainly to the Department of Scientific and Philosophical Foundations of Education. The university also hosted the Departments of Social Sciences, Education, philosophy, Educational Methodology and Psychology.

The Social Sciences undergraduate course began in 1991; Psychology and Library and Information Science opened in 1994; Literature and Image and Sound came in 1996, and Bachelor of Music with specialization in Music Education started in 2004.

In 2008, UFSCar adopted the federal plan to restructure and expand the public universities. Since then, it has increased the number of campuses, undergraduate and graduate courses and staff.