Bachelor's Degree in Italy for African Students

What a bachelor’s degree in Italy looks like

The first cycle is the Laurea. It runs 3 years and carries 180 ECTS — CFU in Italian paperwork — and teaching starts in September, October. ECTS is the European credit currency, so the degree is read without conversion by employers and graduate schools across the EU, and it admits you to a master’s anywhere in the Bologna area. Italy recognises 100 higher-education institutions.

One thing to settle first. Medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, law, pharmacy and architecture are not bachelor’s degrees in Italy: they run as a Laurea Magistrale a ciclo unico and count as second-cycle qualifications, so they sit outside this page.

Language is the real filter. Most first-cycle teaching is in Italian, and English-taught bachelor’s catalogues are thin: Sapienza publishes 8 English bachelor’s programmes, Politecnico di Torino 8, the University of Milan 4, Padua 4, Turin 3 and Pisa 2. Build your programme list before you choose a city, not after.

Can you enter with WASSCE, KCSE, NSC or the Bac?

Yes. The rule turns on years of schooling, not the name of your certificate: Direct entry. The MUR rule is a secondary certificate earned after at least 12 years of schooling. WASSCE/SSCE (Nigeria, Ghana), KCSE (Kenya), NSC (South Africa), ZIMSEC A-Level, ECZ Grade 12 (Zambia), UACE (Uganda), Thanaweya Amma (Egypt) and Baccalaureat (Morocco) all sit at 12 or 13 years, so no bridging year is required. Two extra conditions apply: where the home system requires an academic aptitude examination for university entry, Allegato 1 s.2.2 requires that certificate to be produced (Bologna names China's Gao Kao as the example; Nigeria's JAMB UTME is the analogous exam, though no Italian page checked names it); and Italian at B2 for Italian-taught courses, or B2 in the language of delivery for English-taught courses. Recognition is by CIMEA, the Italian ENIC-NARIC centre: universities accept a CIMEA attestazione di comparabilita e di verifica dell'autenticita, or a Dichiarazione di valore from the Italian mission, or apostilled and legalised documents.

Recognition is the slow part, not admission. Order it the week your results are published — it decides whether your file reaches the consulate in time. The accepted routes are Consular Dichiarazione di Valore (DoV), or CIMEA Statement of Comparability as an accepted alternative; an apostille is yes, a German-style APS certificate no.

The pre-university year exists, but most African applicants do not need it. The Corso propedeutico (Foundation Course) runs 10 months at €4,000–5,000 per year and is built for school systems that finish short of the Italian minimum. It is also sold as optional language strengthening at the same price. Our Italy foundation year page sets out who needs it; studying in Italy from Nigeria covers the document rules.

How much a bachelor’s costs in Italy

Public tuition is €200–4,200 per year, and where you land in that band is set by citizenship, not grades: without an Italian ISEE, non-EU students are placed in a tier by their country’s income classification, and all nine origins we cover fall in a reduced or middle one. In practice that is €300 per year at Sapienza, €346–402 per year at the University of Milan, €500–1,200 per year at Bologna and €600–3,600 per year at Politecnico di Torino. Private universities are a separate market at €3,400–17,000 per year.

Then the small lines. Regional tax and stamp duty add €140–160 per year, health cover is €135–700 per year, the visa €50 and the residence permit €116.46. Living costs do the damage: €900–1,300 per month nationally, €1,050–1,550 per month in Milan against €750–1,150 per month in Pisa or Turin. Budget one year as tuition plus twelve months of living costs plus the permit, and expect rent to dwarf the tuition line at a public university. The full breakdown is on our cost of studying in Italy page.

English requirements for a bachelor’s

There is no national English law in Italy. Each university sets its own bar, and IELTS 6 is a common baseline rather than a fixed rule. The technical universities sit below it: Politecnico di Milano asks IELTS 5, Politecnico di Torino 5.5, Sapienza 5.5 and the University of Milan 5.5. Padua, Pisa and Naples Federico II ask 6, and Bocconi 6.5. TOEFL iBT is accepted in place of IELTS — 72 at Politecnico di Torino, 80 at Sapienza, 90 at Pisa.

The language rule that actually stops people is Italian, not English: for an open-access Italian-taught degree, a B2 certificate is now checked at the pre-enrolment step that gates your visa. Alternatives to the IELTS test itself are on our study in Italy without IELTS page.

Universities to look at for a bachelor’s

Sapienza University of Rome, Rome. 8 English bachelor’s programmes at a flat €300 per year for students without an Italian ISEE, ranked #111 (QS 2027). All nine origins we cover sit in its lowest band.

Politecnico di Milano, Milan. Engineering, design and architecture, #87 (QS 2027), with many English-taught bachelor’s degrees at €880.04–3,943.04 per year. Its English bar is the lowest here, IELTS 5, but entry runs through an admission test.

Politecnico di Torino, Turin. 8 English bachelor’s programmes at €600–3,600 per year, IELTS 5.5, where living costs €750–1,150 per month.

University of Bologna, Bologna. Founded 1088, ranked #123 (QS 2027), with a wide English catalogue at €500–1,200 per year — the lower end applies to Ugandan and Zambian citizens.

University of Milan (La Statale), Milan. 4 English bachelor’s programmes at €346–402 per year, the cheapest tuition on this list, IELTS 5.5. Milan rent cancels most of that saving.

University of Padua, Padua. 4 English bachelor’s programmes at €2,790–2,990 per year, IELTS 6, entry by admission test. DAC low-income-country citizens pay a reduced rate.

University of Pisa, Pisa. 2 English bachelor’s programmes at €290–2,900 per year, banded by World Bank income class, IELTS 6. The cheapest of the eight cities we price.

Bocconi University, Milan. Private and business-focused, with many English-taught bachelor’s degrees at €17,000 per year, IELTS 6.5 and a €100 application fee. Need-based waivers cut it sharply, but you must apply for aid. Profiles are on our universities in Italy page.

How to apply for a bachelor’s in Italy

1. Get your certificate recognised first. Apply to CIMEA for a statement of comparability, or to the Italian mission for a Dichiarazione di Valore, as soon as results are out. Add apostille and sworn translation.
2. Fix the language question. Decide whether you apply in English or in Italian. If in Italian, start the B2 certificate now: CELI, CILS, PLIDA or CISIA ITA-L2.
3. Shortlist by programme, not by city. Pull the English-taught lists from three or four universities and read each one’s admission call, the bando di ammissione.
4. Sit any admission test. Most technical and open-access degrees use a test — TOLC, TIL-I or equivalent — with rounds through the spring: 31 Oct 2027 (MUR national visa deadline for 2027/28); university calls close Mar-Sep 2027.
5. Apply to each university directly and pay its application fee — free at Bologna and Milan, €100 at Bocconi.
6. Pre-enrol on Universitaly. Use Universitaly (national pre-enrolment platform for international students) at https://www.universitaly.it/. It releases your visa file, and no consulate will proceed without it.
7. Prove the money and book the consulate. You need €10,179.85 per year, shown by bank statements, a notarised sponsor affidavit or a scholarship award, first to the consulate and again to the Questura. The visa costs €50 and takes 6 to 13 weeks — see our Italy student visa requirements page.
8. Apply for the permesso di soggiorno on arrival. The kit goes in at a post office within working days of landing, at €116.46.

After the bachelor’s: master’s or work?

Italy treats bachelor’s and master’s graduates alike on this point, which is unusual and worth knowing before you enrol. The Permesso di soggiorno per attesa occupazione (job-seeker permit), converted from the study permit lasts 12 months after a Laurea, the same as after a master’s, and the conversion costs €116.46. During study you may work 20 hours/week maximum with no separate work permit.

Most people carry on to a Laurea Magistrale rather than job-hunt on a three-year degree. It runs 2 years and 120 ECTS at €200–4,200 per year publicly, and your Italian bachelor’s removes every recognition question. Our master’s in Italy page covers entry and deadlines.