LATIN AMERICAN CENTER OF
RESEARCH IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Author: @deensel
Argentina
Argentine higher education is one of the least restrictive in the world in terms of access requirements, which allows for a relative heterogeneity of student profiles in comparative terms. Together with the non-university subsystem and strictly scientific organizations, it constitutes an institutional amalgam that makes it an interesting case study.
Argentina
Population: 47,327,407 inhabitants (2022 estimate)
Area: 2,780,400 km²
Spanish language
Higher education enrollment: 2.73 million
The Argentine Educational System presents important differences in relation to Brazil. On this page, as the research progresses, we will update the comparative data between the countries studied. For now, you will find general information about the Argentine Education System in this space.
Ministry of Education
Higher Education in Argentina
Brief introduction to the Argentine Higher Education System (SAES)
As in the rest of the countries in the region, during the 21st century, Argentine higher education grew in terms of enrollments, institutional offerings and degree programs, as can be seen in the Statistical Yearbooks of the Secretariat of University Policies (SPU) . In 2022, the institutional offer at the higher education level was made up of 112 universities, 20 university institutes and 2275 non-university higher education institutions, of which 659 are teacher training institutions, 901 are technical training institutions and 715 offer degrees with both types of qualifications ( SPU, 2022 and Ministry of Education, 2022 ).
The main formal difference between these types of institutions is the fact that non-university higher education institutions offer three-year teacher training courses and professional technical courses (ISCED 2011 level 5), while universities and higher education institutions They offer undergraduate courses (level 6 of ISCED 2011) that allow continuity with master's and doctoral courses (levels 7 and 8 of ISCED 2011).
This offer of differentiated diplomas by different institutions consolidated two well-defined subsystems:
the university subsystem (SSU) – made up of universities and university institutes – and the non-university subsystem (SSNU) – made up of teacher and professional technician training institutes. – . In general terms, it can be said that there are two subsystems with rigid limits, where obtaining a degree from an institution in one subsystem does not necessarily allow the continuity or recognition of knowledge in institutions in the other subsystem (with the exception of specific institutional agreements). .
Broadly speaking, SSNU is characterized by smaller institutions: while SSU has 2,730,754 students across 132 institutions, SSNU has a global enrollment of 1,000,544 students across 2,275 institutions. There is no higher education census that provides sociodemographic data on enrollments by type of institution, but according to the Permanent Family Survey (EPH, 2023), 21.6% of SSU graduates belong to the tenth income decile, while only 7 .8% of SSNU graduates belong to the same decile. At the same time, 2.7% of SSU graduates belong to the first income decile, while 17.9% of SSNU graduates belong to the same decile. In other words, the characteristics of graduates from each subsystem reveal a certain channeling towards institutional types according to the social sector. In turn, disciplinary domains are also associated with different levels of performance.
Two aspects in which the two subsystems do not differ much are the degree of feminization (which is high in both types of institutions, although it also differs internally depending on the discipline) and the predominance of enrollments in public institutions.
A significant difference in relation to the rest of the countries in the region, with the exception of Uruguay, is that, although the institutional offer is relatively balanced according to the type of management (public/private), enrollments are predominantly public. Considering enrollments from all types of institutions combined, 77.4% belong to the public sector (SPU, 2022). This is explained, in part, by the fact that the public system is free and that, in general terms, access to higher education does not require an entrance exam and there are no quotas per degree, meaning that anyone with a secondary education diploma you may come in. Both free and unrestricted admission are determined by the Higher Education Law , in its articles 2 and 7. ( Ley de Educación Superior (LES ) N°24.521/1995 and modifications of the Law of effective implementation of State responsibility at the level of Higher Education N°27.204/2015.
A distinctive note of the Argentine university system is that completing studies usually takes more years than the theoretical time stipulated in the study plans and the low graduation rate in theoretical time. At the same time, there are multiple registration and re-enrollment processes enhanced by free access, unrestricted access and the prestige conferred on public institutions.
Julio Durand (Universidad Austral) and Andres Santos Sharpe (IIGG, Argentina) presented the work "Argentine Higher Education: scientific policies and the role of autonomous organizations" at the Seminar "Higher Education Policies in Latin America: Expansion, Differentiation and Equity"
Julio Durand | Univ. Austral - AR
Andres Santos Sharpe|IIGG- AR
Publications selected by authors
What role do I play in my learning? A study on the academic engagement of higher-education students.
Neurosciences and their impact on education. Proceedings of the VIII Academic Education Conference
Personalized academic advice at the university.
Manage socially responsible educational institutions: learn, serve, innovate.