ABOVE: Students take the university entrance exam on the campus. Approximately 35,000 candidates take this exam annually in an attempt to gain admission to Unicamp	ABOVE: Student doing axidermicwork in a laboratory of the Institute of Biology

A recent survey has revealed that of the approximately 25,000 alumni who graduated since 1967, 85% are professionals in their area of specialization; of these, 26% are in supervisory positions, 11% own their own business or are self employed, and 7% are continuing their education in graduate courses. Only 1% were unemployed at the time. These indices demonstrate the success of the educational programs of Unicamp and their adequacy for the existing job market.

BELOW: Class of rhythmic gymnastics in the Faculty of Physical Education

ABOVE: One of the reading rooms of the Central Library, heart of a library system constituted by 22 branch libraries

ABOVE: Practical experiment in growing crops of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering

ABOVE: Lone student studies in one of the numerousgrassy areas scattered around the campus

ABOVE: International volley ball match in the university gymnasium

Today, Unicamp has some 9,640 under-graduates in 42 courses, and 7,781 enrolled in its 120 graduate programs (Master's and PhD level). It holds the distinction of being the Brazilian university with the largest proportion of graduate students: some 42%. And since the majority of these students are professionals, already at work at other universities in the country or abroad, Unicamp plays a unique role in the scene of higher education today: that of being a "university for universities", i.e. an institution which assists in the academic consolidation of other institutions. Suffice it to say that Unicamp today accounts for 10% of all graduate students in the entire country.

BELOW: Annual graduation ceremony; approximately 1,200 students graduate each year

ABOVE: Dance rehearsal in the Institute of Arts

The quality of education provided by Unicamp has much to do with the close relation which has historically been maintained between study and research. It is also related to the fact that 90% of its 2,012 faculty members are employed full time, with exclusive dedication to teaching and research. This means that the professionals who teach the classes are the same ones who are involved in the research being conducted in the laboratories; in this way, the students come into direct contact with research, either through exposure to the results in the classroom, or through actual participation in the laboratory.

BELOW: Scattered benches around the campus provide inviting locations for private conversation

Below: Sunset over the lake bordering the northern edge of the campus

ABOVE: Night view of the entrance of the Central Library

Now for some important statistical data: about 65% of the faculty of Unicamp have their doctorate, an extremely high percentage for Brazil. Of the approximately 500 PhDs in the technological areas, for instance, no fewer than 43% received their degress from renowned European and North American universities. If the graduate school of Unicamp has proved to be a magnet to attract candidates from all over the country, and even internationally, an increase in registrations for the entrance exam has shown that, in relation to the number of openings, the undergraduate program has also become the most sought after in the country.

ABOVE: Students congregate in front of the "Ciclo Básico", one of the focal points for socialization of the student body

BELOW: Student consulting branch library shelves

This interest is partially a result of the impact caused by the radical reformulation of the entrance exam in 1987. In a pioneering effort, Unicamp abolished multiple choice tests and instituted exams stressing, above all, the capacity to think and articulate ideas. In addition to delineation of the profile of a new undergraduate in this way, Unicamp has also begun to exert a retroactive influence on education in the secondary schools, which had been geared largely to the preparation of students to deal with the mechanical form of the former entrance exam.

	LEFT: Research in the optics laboratory of the Institute of Physics
	RIGHT: Theater presentation in the open air theater inaugurated in 1996

The success of this experience has served as a model for many other major Brazilian universities in the past few years, and these too have contributed to a general reformulation of the characteristic system for entrance exams in the country. More recently, Unicamp increased the number of undergraduate openings available to approximately two thousand through the implantation of 14 courses with evening classes in areas traditionally not available at night in public universities such as computer science, physics and engineering, an initiative long revindicated by the society at large.