ITA is consistently ranked as one of the top engineering schools in Brazil and engages in advanced research in aerospace science and technology.

[3] In 2024 it was announced that ITA will build a new campus in the city of Fortaleza, in the state of Ceará, that is set to receive its first students in 2027.

Complete residential facilities are offered to the students during the entire five-year period at a minimal cost.

Due to ITA's position as an institute maintained by the Brazilian Air Force, undergraduate students may choose to join the military upon graduation as engineering officers or keep their status as civilians members of the reserve.

After the first year, students not opting for a military career return to being civilians and stop receiving their pay.

Candidates The school's undergraduate admission exams (called vestibular in Brazil) are considered the most competitive in the country.

Math, Physics and Chemistry are often approached beyond high-school level, thus candidates have to study undergraduate-level textbooks.

Candidates often need an extra year of intense study after high-school, and many take the test multiple times before being selected.

The exam is composed of two phases: the first includes general tests in each of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Portuguese and English.

Another university in Brazil has similar admission exams: Instituto Militar de Engenharia (Military Institute of Engineering - IME), which is maintained by the Brazilian Army.

It is now known that in almost every year of Provão up to 2003 ITA's courses figured in either first or second place in its categories, usually competing with IME, both within considerable distance from the remaining schools.

The course evaluation grade of ITA's Electronics Engineering was 485, out of a maximum of 500, based on the test results of the students graduated in 2008.