Going on Exchange in University to Brazil

Universities, business and engineering schools have all understood : Brazil is attracting more and more students who want to add value to their education. Numerous university exchange (intercâmbio) options allow students to leave their country and study abroad for 6 months to 1 year in one of the 170 Brazilian universities.

First point: post-secondary Brazilian education is divided into Graduação (equivalent to a bachelor’s degree) and Pós-graduação (equivalent to graduate studies).

Different exchange programs in Brazil

First of all, it is important to learn about the exchange process of your home university to learn about potential exchange opportunities to Brazil.

Inter-university exchanges :

Today, most post-secondary institutions have bilateral exchange agreements. The student leaves to study in Brazil for one semester to a year all while staying enrolled in their home university/school.

Double degree :

It is possible to follow a double degree path (home French university and hosting Brazilian university) thanks to more than 50 agreements in place between France and Brazil. One part of the course is done in France and the rest in Brazil. In the end, the student receives a degree from both schools.

Examples :

• Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences PO) and HEC have a double degree program with Fundação Gétulio Vargas de São Paulo (FGV)

• Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC)

• Intergroups des Écoles centrales and several large Brazilian universities; Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (EFRJ), Pontifíca Universidade Católica (PUC) deRio de Janeiro, Universidade Federal de Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Universidade de Campinas (Unicamp), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC).

Picking your university in Brazil

To make the right choice, educate yourself! It’s up to you to determine if you the location of your exchange or the academic level of the partner university is more important.

Important 

Certain universities only offer courses in Portuguese! The Brazilian universities work similar to French universities. Public or private, they offer courses in many different areas, from languages to sciences.

Academics

To give you an idea, the website eduniversal regularly publishes updates about the different universities organized by field of study. Certain universities have very good reputations in the following majors :

Law :

• Universidade de São Paul (USP) in São Paulo

• Pontifíca Universidade Católica (PUC) in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro

Business, Management, Finances :

• Fundação Gétulio Vargas in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro

• Universidade de São Paulo (USP) in São Paulo

• Insper in São Paulo

• COPPEAD in Rio de Janeiro

International Relations :

• Universidade de São Paul (USP) in São Paulo

• Pontifíca Universidade Católica (PUC) in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro

Industrial, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering :

• Universidade de São Paulo (USP) in São Paulo

Mechanical Engineering

• Unicamp in Campinas

It is important to know if it is mandatory to know Portuguese to study in Brazil (level B1). More and more universities are asking for the CELPE-BRAS (advanced level). Do you have a desire to learn the language? Come take our Portuguese immersion course.