“Home to many of the world’s greatest works of art, architecture and gastronomy, Italy elates, inspires and moves like no other,” Lonely Planet enthuses.

Why Italy?

Since the first modern University in Europe was founded in Bologna in 1088, Italy has generated a vast expertise in applied sciences thanks to extraordinary scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei, fathers of the scientific method. Later, when the modern world was learning the language of industrialization, Guglielmo Marconi was setting the roots for what years later would become wireless communication. And today, while the whole world speaks the digital language, Italy developed the first commercial desktop computer, known as P101, and soon after the Italian physicist Federico Faggin was inventing the first commercial microprocessor.

Italy reveals its fluency also in the language of physics, thanks to extraordinary personalities such as Fabiola Giannotti who led the project which brought to the discovery of the Higgs Boson, as well as in the language of neuroscience, through the discovery of mirror neurons by the outstanding neurophysiologist Giacomo Rizzolatti.

Such incredible achievements are the result of an exceptional educational system based on solid notions, rigorous scientific method and creative approach which together foster critical thinking, flexibility and the ability to solve complex problems. The Maria Montessori method and the Reggio Children approach are landmarks of a child-centered education methodology that have been implemented in 20,000 schools  all over the world. 

Universities in Italy

taly’s universities are some of the oldest in Europe and in the world. The University of Bologna was founded in 1088, the University of Padua in 1222, and the University of Naples in 1224.

The education system in Italy has followed the Bologna system since 1999. The 3+2, 3-cycle system means you can get graduate from an Italian university with bachelor’s and master’s qualifications after 5 years of study.

It all started under the arcades of Italian Universities that have always been driven by its passion for Research and Innovation. Italy proudly holds the highest rate record of academic publications on research magazines of excellence in Europe, with a focus on biology, natural sciences, physics, pharmacy, medicine, mathematics and computer science. Italian researchers and professors are highly appreciated and hired in the most renowned International Universities.

There are nearly 100 universities throughout Italy, as well as many specialized institutions which fall under the auspices of its higher education sector. A total of 30 universities were included in 2019’s QS World University Rankings, including 12 in the top 500. With 61 vibrant public universities, 30 private universities and 11 public research organizations, groundbreaking university programs, AFAM (Centers for higher artistic education) and 339 courses held in English,  Italy will teach you more than Italian.