The history of the Federal University of Santa Catarina has its roots in the Polytechnic Institute of Florianópolis founded on March 13 of 1917 by José Arthur Boiteux.

In 1961 the institution earned a new place in the city to build its structure, located in the region of Trindade near downtown Florianópolis.

The area was previously occupied by a model farm called Assis-Brasil and is located near the coast, having several streams crossing the actual campus.

During the 1980s, it began to invest heavily in the expansion of graduate programs and research, besides supporting the creation of technology centers in the state of Santa Catarina and the development of a number of outreach projects for the community.

The Brazilian Ministry of Education, through CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Nível Superior, Superior Level Personnel Enhancement Coordination) evaluates graduate programs in Brazil every three years, ranking them from 1 (worst) to 7, being 6 excellence and 7 international excellence level.