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Universidad de Buenos Aires

Universidad de Buenos Aires

Quick facts

City
Buenos Aires
Country
Argentina
Type
Public
Founded
1821
Students
330,000
National ranking
#1
International ranking
#84
Tuition (local students)
ARS 0
Tuition (international)
ARS 0
Guide score
7.8/10

Official website: www.uba.ar

Overview

The Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) was founded in 1821 and is Argentina's largest and highest-ranked university. In the QS World University Rankings 2027 (released June 2026) it sits 84th in the world — the only Latin American institution in the global top 100 — with particularly strong scores in academic reputation and employability. It has more than 330,000 students (UBA's own figure) across 13 autonomous facultades, plus the Ciclo Básico Común. Alumni include multiple Nobel laureates and a long list of Argentine presidents.

UBA is not a campus university. Faculties are spread across Buenos Aires: Derecho and Medicina in Recoleta, Económicas on Avenida Córdoba, Sociales toward Constitución, Exactas/Arquitectura/CBC at Ciudad Universitaria in Núñez, Filosofía y Letras in Caballito, and so on. That urban scatter is the student experience — you live in a barrio and commute by Subte or colectivo.

Undergraduate tuition has been free for everyone, including foreigners, since 1949. Decreto 366/2025 now lets public universities charge students who lack Argentine citizenship or permanent residence; UBA had not rolled out a general undergraduate arancel as of late 2026. Confirm with your facultad. Postgraduate programmes and some specialist medical careers already charge, with higher fees for foreigners.

Academic programs

Degree-seeking undergraduates first pass the CBC (Ciclo Básico Común), a common first-year cycle introduced in 1985 instead of an entrance exam. Foreign degree-seekers must homologate the secondary diploma, show Spanish competence, and regularise migration status (Art. 23(j) student residence). Exchange and visiting students are admitted through UBA Internacional / the host facultad and do not sit the CBC.

Teaching is in Spanish. Assessment is parciales + final; *promoción* can waive the final if you keep high marks. The calendar is March–July and August–December. Faculties are academically uneven on purpose — Medicina, Derecho, Económicas, Exactas and Psicología are the names that travel internationally.

Facilities range from excellent laboratories to tired lecture halls. Ciudad Universitaria has the most "campus" feel; downtown facultades feel like office buildings with a political mural.

Campus life

Student politics, centros de estudiantes and faculty assemblies are part of daily life in a way they are not at a private university. Sports run through the UBA clubs and ciudad universitaria fields. There is no central dorm system that can house more than a tiny fraction of the student body — you rent in Palermo, Caballito, Almagro, Belgrano or Recoleta like everyone else.

DOSUBA, the UBA health insurer, affiliates regular students and is often the cheapest way to meet the insurance expectation after Decreto 366/2025; ask for the current fee and whether foreign students qualify. Comedores and facultad bars are the cheap lunch. The city's nightlife, theatres and football do the rest of the "campus life" job.

Exchange programs

Inbound exchange is faculty-based: your home university needs an agreement with the specific UBA facultad (or a central agreement that the facultad honours). Spanish at B2 is the realistic minimum. Incoming students take courses inside the host faculty; cross-faculty shopping is limited. Application windows follow the March and August intakes — typically a semester ahead via the home international office, then UBA Internacional.

Erasmus+ ICM and Latin American networks (PILA, AUGM, Magalhães/SMILE, etc.) operate alongside bilateral agreements. There is no tuition for agreement exchange. Independent visiting students should budget for administrative fees and should not assume a CBC-free degree track.

Academic programs

Application deadlines

Exchange

Inbound mobility via UBA Internacional and each facultad. Exchange students skip the CBC and enrol in a host faculty. Teaching is in Spanish. Degree-seeking foreigners must complete the CBC and homologate secondary studies.

Next steps

Sources