Study in Italy from Africa in 2027/28

Why study in Italy?

Italy is the cheapest route into a large EU university system for most African applicants. Public universities set non-EU fees by the income group of your country of citizenship rather than by an Italian tax record, and all nine of the countries we work with fall in a reduced or middle band: the national range is €200–4,200 per year for a bachelor’s, and Sapienza University of Rome charges its lowest band a flat €300 per year. There are 100 recognised institutions, the degrees are EU qualifications, and 54,000 international students were enrolled, 6,452 of them from our nine countries (2024/25 (total); 2022 (by-origin)).

Three things decide most cases. The first is language: most degrees are taught in Italian, and a B2 certificate is now a ministerial condition checked at pre-enrolment for open-access Italian-taught courses, not a university preference. English-taught programmes exist and cluster in the technical and business universities — Politecnico di Torino lists 30 English-taught master’s and the University of Milan 40 — but the bachelor’s choice is thin. The second is the calendar: every non-EU applicant pre-enrols on Universitaly (national pre-enrolment platform for international students), and the visa file has a fixed national deadline behind it. The third is money on paper: €10,179.85 per year, up sharply on the previous cycle, and unclear funds are the leading refusal reason at every consulate we deal with.

How much does it cost to study in Italy?

Public fees are annual and country-tiered. The national band is €200–4,200 per year for a bachelor’s and €200–4,200 per year for a master’s, and where you sit inside it is decided by your citizenship, not your grades. Sapienza charges €300 per year; the University of Milan €346–402 per year; the University of Bologna €500–1,200 per year for a bachelor’s and €600–1,400 per year for a master’s. Medicine at a public university is not priced separately — it sits in the same €200–4,200 per year band. Private universities are a different market: €3,400–17,000 per year for a bachelor’s and €7,280–18,550 per year for a master’s. Everyone also pays the regional right-to-study tax and stamp duty, €140–160 per year.

Living costs move sharply by city. The national estimate is €900–1,300 per month. Milan is the most expensive at €1,050–1,550 per month, then Rome at €950–1,400 per month and Bologna at €850–1,300 per month; Turin and Pisa are the cheapest at €750–1,150 per month. A single room costs €390–704 per month in Milan against €230–364 per month in Pisa. Health cover is billed once a year at €135–700 per year, not monthly.

Budget the first year as one annual tuition payment, €140–160 per year in regional tax, twelve months of living costs and €116.46 for the residence permit — then check that total against the €10,179.85 per year the consulate will ask you to show. City-by-city figures are on our Italy cost of study page.

Universities in Italy

The system is mostly public. State universities charge the country-tiered fee; the two Politecnici are technical universities of the same public kind; a small private sector, led by Bocconi, sets its own prices. There are 100 recognised institutions, and admission for African qualifications runs through the same two steps everywhere — credential recognition, then Universitaly.

Six are worth knowing first. Sapienza University of Rome (#111 (QS 2027)) is the largest and the cheapest of the big names at €300 per year, and it teaches Medicine and Surgery in English. The University of Bologna (#123 (QS 2027)), founded in 1088, is the broadest research university and also runs medicine in English. Politecnico di Milano (#87 (QS 2027)) is the strongest Italian name in engineering, design and architecture, but non-EU master’s entrants holding a foreign bachelor’s are placed automatically in the top band at €3,943.04 per year. Politecnico di Torino (#206 (QS 2027)) is the cheaper technical option at €600–3,600 per year, with 8 English-taught bachelor’s degrees. The University of Milan (#270 (QS 2027)) pairs 40 English-taught master’s with fees of €346–402 per year. Bocconi University is the private route into economics and management at €17,000 per year before need-based aid.

English-taught bachelor’s places are scarce outside the Politecnici, so a school leaver without Italian is choosing between a technical degree in English and a language year first. The common floor is IELTS 6 for a bachelor’s and 6 for a master’s, set by each university rather than by law. Profiles are on our Italian universities page and the test-free routes on studying in Italy without IELTS.

Student visa & proof of funds

You apply for the National (Type D) study visa, for university enrolment exceeding 90 days. The fee is €50, the discounted student rate, and decisions take 6–13 weeks. Within eight working days of arrival you apply for the study residence permit, which costs €116.46.

You file at the Italian consulate/embassy, or an authorised visa application centre such as VFS Global, in the applicant's country of legal residence. Nigerians submit through TLScontact in Lagos or Abuja, with Lagos deciding. Ghanaians use VFS Global in Accra or Kumasi, Kenyans VFS Global in Nairobi or Mombasa, Egyptians VFS Global in Cairo or Alexandria, South Africans VFS Global under the Johannesburg or Cape Town consulates, and Moroccans VFS Global in Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech or Beni Mellal. Ugandans, Zambians and Zimbabweans apply directly at the Italian embassies in Kampala, Lusaka and Harare.

The money test is €10,179.85 per year, and it is a documentary standard rather than a blocked account: Bank statements (own or parental, typically last 3 months), a notarised sponsor affidavit, or proof of an awarded scholarship, shown to the consulate at visa application and again to the Questura when registering. You also need travel medical insurance with minimum cover of 30,000 euro, valid across the Schengen area for the whole stay. Biometrics are taken; there is no TB test and no medical examination. The detail is in Italy student visa requirements and our proof of funds guide.

Working & staying after study

Work rights come with the study permit, so no separate work permit is needed. The cap is 20 hours/week maximum and it does not flex: Same 20 hours/week cap applies year-round — hours cannot be shifted between weeks or concentrated in holiday periods. Italy has no statutory minimum wage. Pay is set by sector agreements, and the retail and hospitality agreement students most often work under puts the reference at €5.20–7.07 per hour.

After graduating you convert the study permit into the Permesso di soggiorno per attesa occupazione (job-seeker permit), converted from the study permit and stay 12 months to find work or start a business, for €116.46. The same 12 months applies after a three-year bachelor’s and after a PhD. Be honest with yourself about Italian: research, engineering and some multinational roles run in English, but most employers interview in Italian, and graduate hiring outside Milan is an Italian-language market.

Scholarships for African students

Two national schemes are open to applicants from all nine of the countries we work with. Italian Government scholarships are applied for through the Italian embassy in your own country and fund master’s, doctoral and Italian-language study. Erasmus Mundus joint master’s degrees are fully funded and cover tuition, travel and a monthly allowance. Our eligibility matrix records no nationality-based entitlement for the third scheme, the DSU regional right-to-study grants, so treat those as means-tested awards you chase after admission rather than something to budget around.

The larger saving is structural. Because the public fee is set by country income group, the reduced band is the real award: the gap between the top of €200–4,200 per year and Sapienza’s €300 per year is wider than most competitive scholarships pay out. Politecnico di Torino goes further for Ugandan and Zambian citizens, who can obtain a certificate-conditional full exemption from its €600–3,600 per year band. Private universities run their own aid: Bocconi assesses every applicant for need-based support, which is why its master’s fee is published as a band of €3,710–18,550 per year. See Italy scholarships and the Erasmus Mundus guide.

Who Italy suits — and who it doesn’t

Italy suits a budget-minded applicant with solid school results who will commit to Italian. Sit the B2 certificate and the public system is among the cheapest in the EU at €200–4,200 per year, with medicine priced no differently from any other degree. It also suits engineering, design, architecture, economics and data applicants who want English-taught teaching at a public fee: the two Politecnici and the University of Milan are the shortest routes, and the postgraduate options are set out in our master’s in Italy guide.

It suits an English-only school leaver least. WASSCE, NECO, KCSE, the South African NSC and the Moroccan Baccalauréat are all accepted for direct bachelor’s entry, but the English-taught bachelor’s list is short and the Italian-taught alternative now needs a certificate before the visa. Italy is a weak choice too if you must earn most of your living while studying: 20 hours/week maximum at sector pay will not cover Milan or Rome, and the hours cannot be saved up for the holidays.