Financing your studies in Italy

Italy is one of the more affordable places to study in Europe. Public university fees are means-tested, regional grants (DSU) reach over €7,000 a year for students living away from home, and both EU and non-EU students have access to them on the same terms as Italians. This guide covers what a year of study actually costs, how the higher education system is structured, and every source of funding you can draw on to pay for it.

The Italian higher education system

Italy has around 90 to 100 universities depending on how you count. The Ministry of University and Research (MUR) lists 99 institutions; other counts put the total at 102, split into roughly 69 public universities, 21 private ones, 11 telematic (online) universities and 1 with special status. Around 67 to 72 are public and take the bulk of the roughly two million students enrolled nationally. The largest are Sapienza in Rome (about 112,000 students), Bologna (92,000), Federico II in Naples and Turin (about 80,000 each), Statale in Milan (66,000), Padua (65,000) and Politecnico di Milano (48,000).

The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is widely regarded as the oldest university in the world. In the QS World University Rankings 2026, Politecnico di Milano placed 98th, making it the first Italian university ever to enter the global top 100; 54 Italian universities appear in the Times Higher Education rankings for 2026.

Alongside the ordinary universities, Italy has nine scuole superiori universitarie, small elite institutions offering advanced programmes and doctorates. The Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (founded 1810) is the best known. Some of these have full university status and run their own master's programmes; others operate jointly with partner universities and are known as Scuole di Eccellenza (Schools of Excellence). A separate group of three technical universities (also called Status of Doctoral Colleges) offer engineering and applied-science programmes at graduate and postgraduate level, with a further nine affiliated schools.

Degree structure

Italy follows the Bologna three-cycle structure:

• Laurea (Bachelor, first cycle): 3 years, 180 ECTS. Entry requires an upper-secondary school certificate (12 years of schooling).
• Laurea Magistrale (Master, second cycle): 2 years, 120 ECTS. Entry requires a Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
• Dottorato di Ricerca (PhD, third cycle): at least 3 years, entry by competitive examination (concorso) and a Master's degree.

Several fields use a magistrale a ciclo unico, a single-cycle 5- or 6-year degree with no separate Bachelor's stage: Law (5 years), Architecture, Pharmacy, Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology, and Veterinary Medicine typically run 5 years; Medicine and Dentistry run 6 years (360 CFU). Primary Education Sciences (LM-85bis) is a 5-year qualifying teacher training degree.

Where Italian higher education sits internationally

Educational attainment in Italy is low by OECD standards. Only 31.6% of 25-34-year-olds hold a tertiary qualification (25% of men, 38.5% of women), and 19.3% of the same age group have not completed upper secondary education. The route into university is heavily shaped by school track: more than 70% of liceo (general-track) graduates go on to higher education, against fewer than 15% from vocational tracks. Social background matters too: 63% of the children of graduates get a tertiary qualification themselves, against 15% of those whose parents did not.

Public spending on education is around 3.9% of GDP (OECD average 4.7%), and per-student spending in tertiary education is roughly $8,992 (OECD average $15,102).

What it costs

Tuition fees

Public universities are cheap by international standards and charge EU students the same as Italians. Fees are means-tested against the ISEE, an official household-income indicator: the lower your ISEE, the less you pay. By law, students' contributions cannot exceed 20% of the state funding the university receives, which is why fees stay moderate even for higher earners.

• Low ISEE: €0-500 per year (many students qualify for full exemption)
• Middle ISEE: €500-2,500 per year
• Typical range at public universities: €900-4,000 per year for a Bachelor's, €1,000-5,000 for a Master's
• Non-EU students at some public universities: €1,500-4,000 per year
• Regional tax (tassa regionale) plus stamp duty at enrolment: about €150

Concrete examples for 2026: Bologna €2,000-3,000, Sapienza in Rome €1,000-2,500, Politecnico di Milano €900-3,900, Politecnico di Torino €161-3,821, Federico II in Naples €600-2,500.

Private universities are a different world: Bocconi and LUISS charge €10,000-30,000 per year, with some Master's programmes reaching €35,000.

Living costs

Budget €700-1,200 per month as an international student, or up to €1,500 in the most expensive cities. Housing is the biggest single item at €250-700 per month. The north (especially Milan and Rome) is markedly more expensive than the south; Bologna, Padua, Pisa and Turin sit in the middle.

Most Italian universities do not run large dormitory systems, so you will usually look for housing near campus. Every university has a housing office that helps arrange rooms, which typically works out at around €350 per month including transport and basic bills. Finding accommodation on your own usually costs between €300 and €1,000.

Health insurance

EU students use the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). Non-EU students either register with the Italian national health service (SSN) through the local ASL office, or take out private insurance. Since 2024, SSN registration costs about €700 per year for most students, or €149.77 per year if you hold a scholarship.

Residence permit and financial proof

EU students do not need a residence permit. Non-EU students must apply for a permesso di soggiorno within 8 working days of arrival, showing university admission, health insurance, accommodation and sufficient funds. For the student visa itself, you generally need to prove roughly €6,000-8,000 per academic year, depending on the region.

Financial support

More than 60% of Italian universities are public, which means a real infrastructure of grants, fee waivers and services sits behind them. International students are, as a rule, treated the same as Italians for most support schemes. Recipients of state financial aid also get free access to university canteens; other students pay a small subsidised price.

DSU regional grants (Borse di Studio)

The Diritto allo Studio Universitario (DSU) is the backbone of student support in Italy. It is delivered by regional agencies such as ER.GO (Emilia-Romagna), DiSCo (Lazio), ADISU (Puglia), EDISU (Piemonte) and ESU (Veneto), under the coordination of MUR. Grants are need-based (assessed by ISEE) with a merit requirement from the second year onwards. Bachelor's, Master's, single-cycle and PhD students are all eligible, EU and non-EU alike.

You cannot apply without a valid ISEE, produced through the Dichiarazione Sostitutiva Unica (DSU declaration). No ISEE, no grant.

The amount depends on where you live in relation to the university. National minimum amounts set by MUR for 2025/2026:

• Fuori sede (living away from home): €7,072.10 per year
• Pendolare (commuter): €4,132.85 per year
• In sede (living at home in the same city): a smaller amount, adjusted annually to ISTAT inflation

Regions add their own increases. In Lombardy for 2026/2027 the averages are around €2,991 (in sede), €4,191 (commuter) and €7,172 (fuori sede), with an ISTAT uplift of up to €100 (+1.4%), an extra 15% for students in economically fragile situations, and +40% for students with a disability. Lombardy's initial 2026/2027 budget for DSU exceeded €114 million and grew over the year. Reported maximum DSU amounts for the lowest ISEE brackets reach up to €8,133 per year.

Accommodation places are limited. Tuscany's DSU offer for 2026/2027, for example, includes 1,917 places in Florence, 1,705 in Pisa and 1,200 in Siena; when demand exceeds supply, fuori sede winners with a rental contract can claim a housing contribution of up to €3,150 per year (€1,575 per semester). Payments are made in tranches: for first-year winners in Tuscany named by 4 November 2025, the first tranche pays 20% on 10 November 2025 and a further 30% by 31 December 2025, with the second tranche paid by 30 June 2026 provided the merit requirement is met by 31 May 2026.

EDISU Piemonte works on the same principle: fee waiver, accommodation, meals and a cash grant of up to €7,256 per year. Applications for 2026/2027 open in May/June.

MAECI government scholarships

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) runs an annual scholarship programme for foreign students and Italians resident abroad (IRE), grounded in Law 288/1955 on cultural, scientific and technological cooperation. The 2026/2027 call offers up to €10,800 per student, including health insurance, and reserves three scholarships for candidates from Morocco, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo in memory of Ambassador Luca Attanasio.

You need Italian at B2 level (CEFR), or English at B2 if you are applying for a programme taught entirely in English. The deadline for the 2026/2027 call was 26 March 2026, so future applicants should watch the MAECI portal for the next round.

University scholarships

• Alma Mater Study Grants (International Talents @Unibo) at the University of Bologna: merit-based, covering full tuition exemption plus a cash grant of up to around €11,000.
• Ca' Foscari Honours Scholarships in Venice: €10,000 per year, three years for Bachelor's and two for Master's, merit-based, with a separate application.
• Ca' Foscari International College Scholarship for first-year undergraduates, partial or full, covering accommodation and associated costs.
• Bachelor's scholarships offered by the University of Milan.
• EduItalia scholarships for students of the Italian language, including future translators and teachers of Italian as a second language.
• Campus L'Infinito in Recanati offers half scholarships.
• At private John Cabot University in Rome, the JCU Assistance Grant (need-based) provides up to €4,000 per year, alongside merit-based awards.

The DAAD's annual publication Borse di Studio per l'Estero lists further scholarships available in Italy. Most awards are merit-based (assessed on grade average), but eligibility can also depend on nationality, financial need or religion. Each university publishes a Student Guide at the start of the academic year with the current opportunities.

PhD funding

Italian PhD scholarships (borsa di dottorato) are generous by European standards. The 2026 minimum stipend is €16,243 gross per year (about €1,354 per month), exempt from IRPEF income tax; after the INPS social contribution (~9.19%), net pay works out at €1,120-1,180 per month. Individual universities top this up: Padua pays €17,443, Trento up to €25,200, and Pavia (UniPV) €21,660.53 for 2026/2027, with a research budget of at least 10%. PhD candidates on PNRR-funded projects can add up to 50% for research periods abroad.

Postdoc and specialised fellowships

• ICGEB Arturo Falaschi Postdoctoral Fellowships in Trieste: €2,300 per month for two years (extendable by a third), travel included. Candidates should be under 35 and hold a PhD in the life sciences or at least three years of research experience. ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) also runs programmes providing equipment and consumables for research.
• Bogliasco Foundation Fellowships in the arts and humanities: accommodation, meals and studio space at the Bogliasco Study Centre. Not open to students still enrolled in a degree programme; application fee $30.

Grants for Italian-descent students abroad

The Order of the Sons of Italy in America (SIF/OSIA) offers academic and leadership grants for students of Italian descent studying outside Italy.

Student loans

Loans are less central in Italy than in the UK or US, but several routes exist:

• Habacus and similar Italian providers finance students aged 18-40 who legally reside in Italy and are enrolled in an MUR-recognised programme (including at foreign universities). Loans range from a minimum of €3,000 up to €50,000, depending on the length and location of the studies.
• Credila finances up to 100% of study costs with repayment periods of up to 15 years.
• The Italian Student Loan Fund (Fondo per Studenti Italiani) is a non-profit that supports Italian graduates going abroad (mainly to the US) for Master's, PhD or specialisation programmes, with one-off financing of up to €25,000. Some Italian scholarship-linked funds extend up to €25,000 per year for students at doctoral level.
• The Global Student Loan Fund offers loans to international students.

Erasmus+

Since 1987, over 13 million people have taken part in Erasmus+. Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral students are all eligible; study periods run 2-12 months per cycle. Italy sits in Country Group 2, which sets the following monthly grants for 2026:

• Study mobility: €420-540 per month
• Traineeship: €570-690 per month

Top-ups apply on top of the base grant:

• Students with fewer opportunities: +€250 per month
• Students meeting social/income criteria: +€100-250 per month
• Green Travel supplement: a one-off €50 plus up to 4 extra travel days

Payment is staged: 70-80% before departure, the remaining 20-30% after the final report.

Working while you study

EU/EEA students can work without a work permit and without hourly limits. Non-EU students may work up to 20 hours per week, capped at 1,040 hours per year; going over risks your residence permit. Non-EU students cannot be self-employed or run a business.

Italy has no statutory minimum wage; pay follows sector-specific collective bargaining agreements (CCNL). Typical student jobs pay around €7-9 per hour, sometimes up to €15 in specialised roles; the first €8,500 of annual income is tax-free. Common jobs outside the university include IT and media, call centres and trade-fair work.

Inside the university, the Collaborazione 150 ore scheme offers part-time positions of 150 hours per year in libraries, laboratories, administration and tutoring, paying around €8-10 per hour. Places are allocated on the basis of academic performance and financial need, with priority for students who do not already receive a regional DSU grant. Bologna alone employs about 800 students under this scheme. The €5-15 per hour that student jobs typically pay won't cover tuition on its own, but it goes a long way towards meals, utilities and daily costs.

Admission requirements at a glance

• First cycle (Bachelor's): upper-secondary school certificate (12 years of schooling).
• Second cycle (Master's): Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
• Third cycle (PhD): Master's degree and a successful concorso.

For programmes taught in Italian you generally need Italian at B2. For programmes taught in English, English at B2 is expected instead, with basic Italian (A2) sometimes required for daily life on campus.