USP to Reserve Admissions Seats for Students With Disabilities Starting in 2028

The move brings the university into line with a 2025 São Paulo law that ties the minimum share of reserved seats to the IBGE count of residents with disabilities.

Overview

USP said it will add a disability quota beginning with the 2028 entering class and created a 120‑day working group of faculty, students and specialists to write the implementing rules.
State law 18.167/2025 requires higher and technical institutions to reserve seats for people with disabilities based on their share of the state’s population as measured by the IBGE census.
Coverage cites different IBGE figures for São Paulo, with G1 reporting 6.3% in the 2022 Census and Poder360 noting about 8%, so the exact quota rate will be set in the forthcoming regulation.
After the group drafts the proposal, USP’s Pró‑Rectors for Undergraduate Studies and for Inclusion will issue technical reviews, relevant councils will vote, and the University Council aims to finalize the rule in the first half of 2027.
The regulation must define who qualifies and how to verify it, how to provide a specialized companion for students who prove need, and how to reallocate any reserved seats that go unfilled to other candidates.
Unicamp has used a disability reservation since 2024, and USP’s adoption could widen access and prompt added investment in campus support services once the rules and resources are in place.