It was first established on December 18, 1960, with the name of Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UFERJ), through an integration of different academic colleges in the city of Niterói.

After a rough start, with a power struggle due to the institutions’ different administrations, the military government ruling at that time imposed a model structure for the university to its units and departments.

Following the country's tradition in other institutions at the time, the main aim of the university was academic training, focusing on resources to qualify citizens for professional development.

In the 1990s, UFF expanded and began to offer new programs in campuses in different towns in regional areas if Rio de Janeiro state.

UFF is also part of the CEDERJ Consortium,[11] which teaches distance learning undergraduation courses through centers located in the Rio de Janeiro state.