The Universidade Católica de Pelotas (Catholic University of Pelotas, often abbreviated as UCPel) is a private and non-profit Catholic university, located in Pelotas

Pelotas

Pelotas is a Brazilian city and municipality , the third most populous in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Pelotas is located 270 km from Porto Alegre, the capital city of the state, and 130 km from the Uruguayan border...

, one of the more southern cities of the country. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Brazilian universities. It is maintained by the Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 Archdiocese of Pelotas.

It also has campus

Campus

A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...

es in five other municipalities: Arroio Grande

Arroio Grande

Arroio Grande is a small Brazilian town in the southeastwern part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population is around 19,000. Its second industry is agriculture which was primary until the 1970s, it currently has more urban population than rural...

, Canguçu

Canguçu

Canguçu is a city in Rio Grande do Sul, south Brazil....

, Pinheiro Machado, Piratini

Piratini

Piratini is a city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul with a population of some 19,000. It is the former capital of the short-lived Riograndense Republic which was proclaimed on September 11, 1836....

 and Santa Vitória do Palmar

Santa Vitória do Palmar

Santa Vitória do Palmar is a city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. To the west of the municipality is the Lagoa Mirim and beyond that is Uruguay; to the east is the Atlantic Ocean and to the north is the city of Rio Grande...

.