How to Apply to Universities in Italy: Requirements, Deadlines and Portals

Two application routes depending on where you live

Italy splits the admission process by applicant category rather than nationality alone. If you are an EU or EEA citizen, or a non-EU citizen already legally resident in Italy, you apply directly on the website of each university you want to attend, the same way an Italian student would. If you are a non-EU citizen living abroad, you go through Universitaly , the Ministry of University and Research's official portal, before you enroll at any Italian university.

Step 1: choose your program and check admission type

Search for your program on Universitaly or the university's own course catalog and confirm whether it is open access or numero chiuso. Open access programs admit any qualified applicant. Numero chiuso programs fix the number of places and select students by entrance test score. Medicine and surgery, dentistry, veterinary medicine and architecture use a national test set by the ministry, while other competitive programs, such as engineering, psychology or design, run their own university level test.

Step 2: get your diploma recognized

Italian universities need proof that your secondary school diploma equals an Italian diploma di maturità. If you apply from outside Italy, this usually means getting a dichiarazione di valore (statement of value) from the Italian embassy or consulate in your country, or submitting a comparability statement through the ENIC-NARIC network if you already live in Italy or apply directly. Start this step early, since embassy processing takes weeks.

Step 3: register and submit documents

Non-EU applicants abroad create a Universitaly account, select one university and program per pre-enrollment application, and upload their diploma, transcripts, passport and language certificate. The university reviews the application and confirms eligibility on the portal, after which you move to the visa stage. EU citizens and resident non-EU applicants upload the same documents directly to their chosen university's admission portal instead.

Step 4: sit any required entrance test

If your program uses numero chiuso, register separately for the entrance test, for example TOLC for many engineering and science courses, or the national test for medicine, and sit it on the date set by the consortium or ministry. Test results and your ranking position decide whether you get an offer, so check the scoring and place allocation rules for your specific course before test day.

Step 5: apply for your student visa

Once a university confirms your place, non-EU applicants staying longer than 90 days apply for a Type D national visa at the Italian embassy or consulate in their home country. You need the university's acceptance letter, proof of funds, accommodation confirmation and health insurance. After you land in Italy, you convert the visa into a permesso di soggiorno (residence permit) within 8 working days.

Step 6: enroll and pay first fees

Final enrollment (immatricolazione) happens directly with the university once you arrive, or online if the university allows remote enrollment for the first year. You pay your first tuition installment at this point, so have your ISEE or ISEE parificato paperwork ready if you plan to apply for the reduced fee bands available to international students.

Deadlines to track

Universitaly publishes pre-enrollment deadlines for non-EU applicants abroad each year, typically in spring for programs starting the following autumn. Individual universities set their own direct application deadlines, which run later into the summer for open access programs. Numero chiuso entrance tests have fixed national or consortium dates, usually announced months in advance, so confirm the current cycle's dates on Universitaly and your target university's website as soon as you start planning.

Language requirements

Programs taught in Italian generally ask for a B2 level certificate, such as CILS, CELI or PLIDA, unless your previous education already took place in Italian. Programs taught in English ask for an equivalent English certificate, commonly IELTS or TOEFL, at a level set by the individual program. Check the specific certificate and score your target program accepts before you book a language exam, since requirements differ between universities and even between programs at the same university.

Documents to prepare

• Valid passport and a passport photo

• Secondary school diploma and full transcript, translated and legalized if required

• Diploma recognition document (dichiarazione di valore or comparability statement)

• Language certificate matching your program's teaching language

• Proof of funds for the visa application, for non-EU applicants

• Application forms and photos specific to your chosen university

Common mistakes to avoid

Applicants lose time by starting diploma recognition too late, since embassy appointments and processing both take weeks. Missing a numero chiuso test registration window closes that admission cycle, with no late entry. Confirm each document's format, translation and legalization requirements directly with your target university rather than assuming rules from a different country's system apply, since Italian universities vary in what they accept.

Keep digital and physical copies of every document you submit, since universities and consulates sometimes ask for the same paperwork more than once during the process.