University of Porta Bianca

The University of Porta Bianca (UPB) is a  in Amar, Porta Bianca, Cartadania. It is the flagship university of Porta Bianca and is one of the oldest universities in Cartadania outside of the Luson region. As of 2026, UPB's student body is the largest in Porta Bianca and one of the largest in Cartadania. UPB's designation as a land, sea, and space grant institution–the only university in Porta Bianca to hold all three designations–reflects a range of research with ongoing projects funded by organizations such as the Cartadanian National Aerospace Administration (AANC), the Federal Health Institutes, the Federal Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research. The school's students, alumni—over a half-million strong—and sports teams are known as Olympians (although some female-majority sports use "Sirens"). The UPB Olympians athletes compete in 18 varsity sports as a member of the West Coast Conference.

The main campus is one of the largest in Cartadania, spanning a discontiguous area of 941.6 ha of the city's Education City, Miramar, and Waterside districts. About a quarter of the student body lives on campus. UPB has more than 1,000 officially recognized student organizations and activities. Many students also observe the traditions, which govern daily life, as well as special occasions, including sports events. Working with various UPB-related agencies, the school has a direct presence in each of the 34 parishes in Porta Bianca, as well as some at the metropole and in Cartadania's Taínean and Kindredian territories. The university offers degrees in more than 150 courses of study through ten colleges and houses 21 research institutes.

History
The second public institution of higher education in Porta Bianca and the first to become a public university, the school opened on 18 January 1781 as the Porta Bianca Agricultural and Mechanical Institute (PBAMI) by a coalition of plantation owners from Amar, Belle, Carolina, Maria, Merced, and Victoria Parishes as a means to train newly hired or aspiring plantation owners in the young commonwealth. These individuals became the first members of the Porta Bianca Board of Regents, a then-sixteen-member group that oversaw the institute and its operations, tailored its early curricula, and oversaw admissions. Originally, the college taught classes in classical studies, languages, literature, applied mathematics, scientific agriculture, civil and mechanical engineering, and language and literature. This is reflected in the university's original three colleges are the School of Engineering and Applied Mathematics (SEAM), College of the Sciences, and the College of Arts and Letters.

In 1875, the state's rapidly expanding tourism sector and exploding population led to the introduction of new areas of study, including medicine, law, various life sciences, natural philosophy, and moral philosophy. To reflect the institution's role and academic offerings, as well as its position in the state's capital, the Porta Bianca General Assembly renamed the school to the University of Porta Bianca in 1883. Early on, the school had no president, but rather a provost with shared power between then and the Board of Regents. As the 19th century came to a close, however, it became obvious this cumbersome arrangement was incapable of adequately handling the many administrative and fundraising tasks of the growing university. As a result, Yamil Moniz, a Porta Bianca born lawyer who had trained at Erudite accepted an offer as president of the University of Porta Bianca in 1901.

Academics
The University of Porta Bianca is accredited by the Association of Colleges and Universities. UPB's academic calendar is based on the semester system, with the typical spring semester running from the end of August until the beginning of December, and the typical fall semester running from the beginning of January through the beginning of May. In addition, UPB offers four different winter semesters, A, B, C, and D, ranging from six weeks to twelve weeks. Various foundations also classify UPB as a "large four-year, primarily nonresidential" university with a "comprehensive doctoral" graduate instructional program and "highest research activity."

Student body
UPB's student body consists of 44,645 undergraduates and 11,902 graduate and professional students and 403 M.D. students from all 34 Porta Bianca parishes, all 32 states, and 41 countries. Study abroad programs allow UPB students to study and conduct research in 42 programs in 16 countries. The ten largest undergraduate disciplines at UPB are respectively: business management and administration, health professions and related, psychology, education, engineering, biology, multi/interdisciplinary studies, communications, visual and performing arts, and social sciences.

In the new millennium, enrollment has increased by over sixty percent at UCF, from 29,704 in 2000, to 56,950 in 2026. Of the nearly 60,000 students, 21 percent are graduate and professional students, while women make up 55% of the student body. 22% of UPB students are above the age of 25.

Due to budget decreases and increased demands on the university, the UPB Board of Regents, with the approval of the Board of Governors and the Porta Bianca General Assembly, approved a 15% increase in tuition for the 2010–11 academic year, the highest attendance cost increase in the history of the state. For the 2020–21 academic year, undergraduate tuition costs were €175.25 per credit hour for in-state students, and €450.50 per credit hour for out-of-state students, while international students paid an outstanding €748.89 per credit hour. Graduate tuition costs were €350.25 per credit hour for in-state students, and €825.75 per credit hour for out-of-state students. Tuition for the medical school is €15,790 for both in-state and out-of-state students. The estimated annual cost for undergraduate students is €8,500 for Porta Bianca residents, and $19,600 for non-Porta Bianca residents. Expected costs for graduate students are $5,045 for in-state students, and $11,900 for out-of-state students.

Athletics
Because of the insular character of the state itself, athletics for UPB have been one of contention. While the states universities compete amongst themselves, the school also sends some of its teams to the metropole. It notoriously competes with the University of Santarém, University of Espírito Santo, Haia State Univeristy, and University of Lombardia-Figueroa, while occasionally competing against the University of Alexandria, Veneza State University, and the University of Verona, Sierra.