The Federal University of Santa Maria was the first federal university established in the interior of Brazil, outside of a Brazilian capital. This represented an important milestone in the process of expanding public higher education in Brazil and contributed to Rio Grande do Sul becoming the first state in the Federation to have two federal universities. It is headquartered in Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), in the Camobi neighborhood, at the Prof. José Mariano da Rocha Filho University Campus, where most of its academic and administrative activities take place. It also has three campuses outside its main campus: one in Frederico Westphalen, one in Palmeira das Missões, and another in Cachoeira do Sul.