The Federal University of Ceará is an autarchy linked to the Ministry of Education. It was born as a result of a broad movement of public opinion. It was created by Law No. 2373 , on December 16, 1954, and installed on June 25 of the following year. In the beginning, under the direction of its founder, Prof. Antônio Martins Filho, consisted of the School of Agronomy, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Pharmacy and Dentistry.

Headquartered in Fortaleza, State Capital, the UFC is an arm of the Ceará Higher Education system and its activity is based on the entire territory of Ceará, in order to meet the different scales of demands of society. The University is comprised of seven campuses called Campus do Benfica, Campus do Pici and Campus do Porangabuçu, all located in the city of Fortaleza (UFC headquarters), as well as Campus de Sobral, Campus de Quixadá, Campus de Crateús and Campus de Russas. The Federal University of Ceará, which has been committed to serve the region for more than 50 years, without forgetting the universal character of its production, arrives today with practically all the areas of knowledge represented in its campuses.