La expansión del sistema universitario argentino y el acceso de los sectores de bajos ingresos. El rol de las universidades del Conurbano bonaerense

Abstract

University access in Argentina has expanded significantly over the last forty years, configuring a massive and federally diversified system. To what extent, and how, has this process expanded university access for low-income sectors? This article provides descriptive and statistical evidence on the stratification of access to higher education in the country for the 1996-2023 period, using both individual and aggregate-level indicators. We document that participation among popular sectors almost tripled, and shows that such an increase is related to the creation of new national universities, especially in the Conurbano Bonaerense area. Indeed, indicators of household cultural capital substantiate that these institutions enroll significantly larger portions of first-generation university students, and students whose parents only completed primary school, than the rest of national universities. In addition, a linear regression model at the departmental level finds that the presence of national universities in the conurbano region significantly increases equity in university access.