UBA is an institution of more than 180,000 students. It has been shaped by the educational ideas of the 1918 Cordoba reform, and these have calcified into rigid policy. The cost per graduate may be high but the expenditure per student is very low in most faculties. Unlike most European countries with similar open systems, Argentina has no rigorous high school completion exam and imposes no restrictions on fields such as medicine, where unlimited numbers directly affect quality of instruction. UBA is completely free, with no tuition or fees for study at any level.
Most professors work part-time, teaching a course or two per term for a token payment.
In most of the faculties, fewer than 20 percent are full-time professors. This means that even full time professors must hold other jobs. There are few restrictions on such extra employment. There is no tenure system or security of employment. Facilities are completely inadequate for students and faculty.