THE ITALIAN EDUCATION PROFILE
  Qualifications and equivalence


Foreign Students: Admission and Courses Registration

The application period for universities starts on 1st August and normally ends on 5th November. Applications are accepted either in terms of a fixed number or for courses lasting six months.

All universities take foreign students. Each university assigns a number of places specific to foreign students (this number is defined as contingente). The admission of foreign students - as well as Italian ones - wishing to enroll at an Italian university on the basis of foreign secondary qualifications is regulated by legal provisions jointly made by the Ministry for Universities, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Home Office, usually in the month of March every year. For updated information applicants should contact:
  • if residing abroad, the relevant Italian Consulate in this country


  • if residing in Italy, a Student Secretarial Office (Segreteria Studenti) or a Foreign Student Office (Ufficio Studenti Stranieri) at individual universities.
Since the official tuition language is exclusively Italian, all foreign students are required to successfully take an exam in such language. Said examination is usually held at each university in the first half of September, prior to the beginning of the next academic year.

Foreign students holding the certificates issued by the Universitą per stranieri di Perugia and the Universitą per stranieri di Siena on completion of appropriate courses may be exempted from the language exam.

Recognition of Foreign Study Certifications

The admission requirements of foreign students at universities in Italy are generally similar to the requirements from their own countires, as long as the qualifications held are obtained after 12 academic years of study. Italy has stipulated a bilateral agreement with some countries for the recognition of eductional qualifications. The legislative reference for the recognition of qualifications obtained in the EU are the Directives 89/48/CEE and 92/51/CEE.

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