Argentina has a long university tradition, a large and varied higher-education system and a strong record in medicine, science, law, the humanities and the social sciences. Public universities are free or very low-cost, also for international students. And in Buenos Aires, you study in one of Latin America’s great capitals.
A university tradition older than the country
The Jesuits founded the University of Córdoba in 1613, two centuries before Argentine independence, making it one of the oldest universities in the Americas. The University of Buenos Aires followed in 1821, a few years after independence.
Today UBA is a large public university with 13 faculties, from medicine and law to engineering, economics, psychology and the sciences. Universities have shaped Argentina’s professional, scientific and intellectual life ever since.
The University of Buenos Aires
UBA’s faculties are spread across the city instead of being gathered on one campus. Medical students spend most of their time at the Faculty of Medicine and its teaching hospitals, while law, economics and engineering students each have their own buildings and their own academic culture.
UBA ranks 84th in the QS World University Rankings 2027, the only Latin American university in the top 100. In the 2026 QS subject rankings, five UBA disciplines placed in the world’s top 50 and twelve in the top 100.
Rankings give a sense of an institution’s size and reputation. For your own choice, the specific degree and faculty matter more.
Three Nobel Prizes in science
Argentina’s scientific history can be traced through individual researchers. Three of them, all educated at UBA, won Nobel Prizes:
- Bernardo Houssay, who studied, taught and did research at UBA, received the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the role of pituitary hormones in regulating blood sugar. He was the first Latin American Nobel laureate in the sciences.
- Luis Federico Leloir, a UBA medical graduate, received the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on sugar nucleotides and carbohydrate metabolism.
- César Milstein, who studied chemistry at UBA, received the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries on antibodies and monoclonal antibodies.
For students of medicine, biology or chemistry, this history is part of the academic culture they join.
More than UBA
UBA is the best-known name abroad, but Buenos Aires has many other options. International students can also consider public universities such as Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Universidad Nacional de Lanús or Universidad Nacional de las Artes, and private ones such as Universidad de Palermo, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella or Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
The right choice depends on the subject. A student interested in contemporary art might look first at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes. Someone interested in economics or business might compare several universities that offer those degrees.
A wide choice of subjects
UBA alone has 13 faculties:
- Medicine
- Law
- Engineering
- Economics
- Psychology
- Social Sciences
- Philosophy and Letters
- Exact and Natural Sciences
- Architecture, Design and Urbanism
- Agronomy
- Veterinary Sciences
- Pharmacy and Biochemistry
- Dentistry
Start with the degree you want. If you want to study medicine, look at medical programs. If you want to become an architect, compare architecture programs. Then choose the university.
Buenos Aires: a city to study in
With faculties and universities spread across the city, student life happens in the middle of Buenos Aires. You use Spanish all day: buying groceries, taking the Subte, talking to your landlord, visiting a pharmacy, dealing with university offices, meeting friends or going to a concert. If you plan to complete a whole degree in Spanish, this daily practice adds up.
Studying in Spanish
At an Argentine university, Spanish is the language you read, write, discuss and take exams in. A law student needs to read complex legal texts and follow academic debate. A medical student meets anatomy, physiology and clinical terminology that no general Spanish course covers.
Some universities also set a formal requirement. UBA, for example, asks for C1 Spanish from applicants whose secondary-school diploma comes from a non-Spanish-speaking country, with SIELE among the accepted exams. Always check the requirement of your university and degree.
If you study Spanish in Buenos Aires before your degree, you can build your general and academic Spanish at a language school first and then start university in a city you already know.
A wider intellectual culture
Argentine universities are part of a broader culture of publishing, research and public debate. UBA has run its own publishing house, Eudeba, since 1958, and research institutes, public lectures and conferences are part of academic life. Graduates of Argentine universities have shaped medicine, science, literature, politics and law in Argentina and abroad.
Is Argentina right for you?
Argentina is a good fit if you want to:
- earn a university degree in Spanish
- live in Buenos Aires or another Argentine city for several years
- study at a large public university such as UBA
- study medicine, science, engineering, law, business or the humanities
- spend several years immersed in Latin American culture
The next step is a concrete plan. What do you want to study? Which university offers it? What does it require, and what do you need to do before you start? Our guide to studying at a university in Argentina [add link] takes you through these questions.
Preparing for university
Preparing for a degree in Argentina can take months, especially if you start with little Spanish. Academia Buenos Aires’ University Pathway Program [add link] is designed for this period: intensive Spanish in Buenos Aires, plus guidance on choosing a university and degree, Spanish requirements, admissions, documents, SIELE preparation and the move to academic life in Argentina.
Read more: Study at a University in Argentina [add link]