Students Day in Mexico Date in the current year: May 23, 2024

The history of Mexico’s Students Day began in May 1923, when the students of the National University of Mexico organized a wave of strikes to protest a new grading system and support the efforts to gain autonomy for the university. The strikes reached their peak on May 23, when several students were injured during a confrontation with police at the medical school.

Many professors supported the striking students and subsequent negotiations led to the long-awaited autonomy. The university was renamed to the National Autonomous University of Mexico and became independent from the Secretariat of Public Education. Since then, the rector has been the final authority at the University.

May 23, the anniversary of the culmination of the student strikes, is now celebrated in Mexico as Students Day. Although it is not a state holiday, it is celebrated by many students throughout the country in honor of those who participated in the strikes.

There are both public and private higher education institutions in Mexico. They include six federal universities, a number of institutes of technology (branches of the National Institute of Technology of Mexico), state universities, research centers, and private universities and technological institutes.