The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Portuguese: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS; known as Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul, URGS, between 1947 and 1950[4]) is a Brazilian federal university based in Porto Alegre. UFRGS is among the largest and highest rated universities in Brazil,[5][6][7] having one of the largest number of scientific publications. UFRGS has over 27,000 undergraduate students, over 9,300 graduate students, and more than 2,500 professors.[8] As a public federal institution, students do not have to pay tuition fees to enroll in the courses offered by the university. To be admitted to one of the courses offered by UFRGS, a candidate must be approved in a yearly competitive exam, called vestibular.