Miley wants to charge fees for foreigners who study for free in Argentina; Gustavo Petro says he will repatriate 20,000 Colombian university students | world

The fee will be charged to foreign students who have temporary residency in Argentina – meaning that after graduation, they must return to their home countries.

Colombia's President, Gustavo Petro, said on Twitter that the government would return 20,000 Colombian students who studied for free in Argentina. “They were literally expelled from this country (Argentina), and there was no such thing as freedom for them. We will work so that they can continue their studies in Colombia without major obstacles and also for free,” said the Colombian president.

The quote about freedom is a reference to Javier Maile, an orthodox extremist who claims to be a libertarian.

Numbers of foreign students in Argentina

According to a report by La Nacion newspaper, the latest numbers of foreign students date back to 2021.

• Total students enrolled in higher education in the country: 2.73 million.
• Foreign students: 117.8 thousand, or 4.3% of the total.
• The vast majority (95.9%) are from Latin America.
• At the University of Buenos Aires, one of the most important universities in the country, the percentage of foreigners in undergraduate courses is 9.5%, and in postgraduate courses is 16.5%.
• The number of foreigners in the country has increased. According to La Nacion newspaper, from 2015 until now, the percentage has doubled.

Feedback from universities

The University of Buenos Aires must submit a formal response to Miley's bill, but department heads have already spoken.

Guillermo Durán, from the Faculty of Exact Sciences, said that this measure is unconstitutional because a decision like this should be made by the university, not the government – in Argentina, the constitution guarantees the university's independence.

He also states that the fees won't make much difference from a budget standpoint.