At the same time, the USP focused on training teachers for secondary schools, experts in sciences, engineers, lawyers, physicians, and professors.

In subsequent years, several other research units were also created, such as a second Medical School located in the city of Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo's inland) in 1952.

[7] During the 1970s and part of the 1980s, some critics believed that the USP underwent an intellectual dissection in terms of knowledge production and the quality of human resources.

During the past decades, the university played an essential role in the discussion and dissemination of important political ideas that contributed to the democratization of the country, bringing together many leftist intellectuals (such as Florestan Fernandes, Boris Fausto, Paul Singer, Antonio Candido, Gioconda Mussolini among others).

The gap caused by the removal of teachers and students chased by the military regime was interrupted by the campaign of political amnesty in the early 1980s.

Originally conceived as the university's academic core – gathering itself the various fields of knowledge – the FFCL (School of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters) saw its departments gain autonomy and become separate units.

[13] In 2005, it was built in the East Zone of the city of São Paulo a new School of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (EACH), taking a few courses that go beyond the traditional Brazilian university model and aim to diversify the areas of the consolidated institution.

[21] The university houses altogether 24 museums and galleries – with half a million visitors a year – two theaters, a cinema, a TV channel and an orchestra.

[21] The University of São Paulo welcomes people from all continents and stimulates this process via networks and consortiums (International Office – USP), such as Erasmus Mundus, Associação das Universidades de Língua Portuguesa, and Rede Magalhães (SMILE – Student Mobility in Latin America, Caribbean and Europe), among others.

Candidates must take a multiple-choice test involving chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, geography, history, Portuguese, and English.

The second round of tests is written and specific to the chosen field of studies, including more in-depth questions in physics, chemistry, and mathematics for engineering; history, math, and geography for law; and so on.

More recently, students have also been able to access the university by taking the nation-wide high school evaluation test, ENEM, through the Unified Selection System (SISU).

The USP corresponds to the idea of "university" as a set of autonomous schools, institutes, and colleges, each responsible for one area of knowledge (the aforementioned thirty-six teaching, research, and extension).

Due to the aforementioned fragmentation and decentralization of the university, it is common to see departments with similar profiles in different units, which raises criticism as to the effectiveness of public investments and duplication of efforts.

In recent years, there has been discussion about creating a Pro-Rectorate for Student Assistance, a subject that, according to critics, has always been considered secondary to the university's leaders.