The psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Beck Depression Inventory were studied on a large Brazilian college student sample (N= 1,080; 845 women, 235 men). The BDI scores according to sociodemographic characteristics and mean individual item scores for total sample and by gender were compared. BDI scores tend to be higher for women, for those who work, and for the younger participants. The reliability of the inventory estimated by alpha coefficient was high for the total sample (.86) and subgroups. Factor analysis showed three factors for the total sample (low self-esteem, cognitive-affective, and somatic) and two for each gender. Women combined affective and low self-esteem whereas men combined somatic and low self-esteem in the same dimension. Discriminant analysis showed that BDI highly discriminates depressive symptomatology in college students and measures specific aspects of depression.