Only a small group had access to higher education through the first 300 years of the university. In the early 20th Century, the university was very influential, but it was only after 1918 that it acquired its unusual force.
Although after 1885 the university had the right to govern itself without state intervention (autonomy), in 1918 it was still run by members of the most conservative (and Catholic) families of Cordoba. In June 1918, students of the university rose against a university system they found clerically oriented, authoritarian and colonialist.
Students succeeded to get the attention of President Hipolito Yrigoyen, through rallies, strikes and petitions. Their actions were closely related to the world’s historical context (significant events: Russian Revolution, Mexican Revolution, end of World War I) and Argentinian historical context (first democratic government, promotion of immigration). Many of these events took place in this same building, such as the events of June 15th and September 9th (the taking of the building).
Fellow students in Buenos Aires, La Plata, Santa Fe and Tucumán joined the students of Cordoba, and later it spread to Lima and Cuzco (in Peru), Santiago de Chile and Mexico. This students’ movement is known as the University Reform Movement.
The University Reform succeeded. The Statutes of the University were modified to incorporate the new principles of autonomy, autarchy, co-government (democratic government between professors, students, graduates), extension (outreach programmes to the community), scientific modernisation, academic independence and freedom, periodic evaluation of university professors. Most of these principles were adopted by the other national universities in Argentina.
In 1949, the elimination of tuition fees tried to grant access to higher education. This became a distinctive principle of public universities in Argentina.