Argentina reaches university salary funding deal with government

The Argentine National Government and the National Interuniversity Council (CIN) signed a financing agreement aimed at upgrading salaries, operating budgets and scholarships for public universities. The deal provides a 21.33% salary increase for faculty and staff in July and a further 3% in October, alongside a 30% boost for university operating expenses and a 50% rise in the Manuel Belgrano scholarship program. It also adds 50 000 million pesos for university hospitals and a 20% increase in their operating costs.

University rectors and unions say the agreement is insufficient. Rector Franco Bartolacci of the University of Rosario called the pact “a step but not definitive or sufficient,” noting that wages remain far below the 54% raise mandated by the 2025 University Funding Law. The Federation of University Teachers (Fedun) warned that “the law establishes we must receive a 54% update by October 2025; they are offering only 21% without retroactivity.” The unions intend to keep pressuring the Milei administration and continue legal action before the Supreme Court.

The agreement also includes quarterly parity meetings and an additional 50 000 million pesos for university hospital operations, but union leaders plan to maintain strikes and demand full compliance with the financing law.