Universidade Regional do Cariri

The Universidade Regional do Cariri (URCA) (English: Cariri Regional University) is a Brazilian state public university with its administrative headquarters in the city of Crato, with other campuses in the city of Juazeiro do Norte and decentralized units in Iguatu, Campos Sales and Missão Velha. Additionally, it encompasses the Plácido Cidade Nuvens Paleontology Museum in Santana do Cariri. URCA serves an academic community of approximately 12,500 students from around 111 municipalities in the states of Ceará, Piauí, Pernambuco and Paraíba, distributed between undergraduate education, special programs and ''lato sensu'' postgraduate education.

It was created by State Law No. 11.191, of June 9, 1986, in the form of a special regime autarchy and authorized by Decree No. 94.016, of February 11, 1987. It was officially installed on March 7, 1987. It is part of the state's Higher Education System and is linked to the Department of Science and Technology. The staff composition includes 238 technical-administrative employees, both permanent and outsourced, 371 permanent professors, 153 temporary professors, and 80 substitute professors. With the latest public competition, the admission of over 90 professors was approved, the majority of whom joined the university with extension projects to increase the number of researchers in the region.

These employees, staff, and professors are distributed across six campuses: three in the municipality of Crato (Pimenta, São Miguel, and São Francisco), two in the municipality of Juazeiro do Norte (CRAJUBAR and Pirajá), and one in Santana do Cariri, where the Paleontology Museum operates. This museum showcases one of the most important reserves of fossils from the Cretaceous period.

Today, the university has 33 undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs. There are also 45 postgraduate courses, four Special Pedagogical Training Programs and two residencies, one in Multiprofessional Collective Health and the other in Obstetric Nursing. Provided by Wikipedia