Based on the most recent data characterizing the evolution of Latin American higher education, we hereby analyze the impact of its massification and universalization in the context of growing privatization of financing and provision, which results in an institutional platform in constant growth and change. Following Trow's hypothesis regarding the impact of the expansion of access possibilities on the concept of university, we describe the transition from an ideal conception of the Latin American university as dedicated to the formation of society’s elites into massive national systems of heterogeneous composition, that meet the demands for information, knowledge, skills and certifications for the job market and social mobility. Throughout this process, the very idea of university changes, from the university committed to the transformation of society to an institution that forms human capital