The universities, one by one.
Each guide is written from the university's own pages and calls: how international students are admitted, which test applies, what a family abroad pays, and what the city is like to live in.
Politecnico di Torino
Opened in 1859 as a School for Engineers, and the first Italian engineering school by its own account. Its campuses include the Valentino Castle and two former Fiat sites.
Sapienza University of Rome
Founded in 1303 and, by its own account, the oldest university in Rome. More than 125,000 students, 11 faculties and a main campus a few steps from Termini station.
University of Bologna
Founded in 1088 and considered the oldest university in the Western world. Five campuses across Emilia-Romagna and more than 97,000 students.
Università Politecnica delle Marche
Set up in Ancona in 1969 as the Free University of Ancona, a state university since 1971. Five subject areas on three campuses in the city, on the Adriatic coast.
Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro
Founded by royal decree in 1923 and named after Aldo Moro in 2008. Based in Bari, the capital of Apulia, with twenty-four departments.
Università degli Studi di Cagliari
Founded in 1620 as the Studium Generalis Kalaritanum, in the capital of Sardinia. More than 24,750 students, 6 faculties and a beach inside the city limits.
Università degli Studi di Catania
The oldest university in Sicily, established in 1434. About 40,000 students and 17 departments, with its main building on Piazza Università and units in Ragusa and Syracuse.
Università degli Studi di Firenze
A state university founded in 1321 as a Studium Generale, with its seat on Piazza di San Marco in Florence, the largest municipality in Tuscany.
Università degli Studi di Messina
Established in 1548 by Pope Paul III, on the northeastern tip of Sicily. More than 25,000 students, 12 departments and four campuses inside the city.
Università degli Studi di Milano
La Statale, founded in 1924, is a public university in the centre of Milan. Its main seat is the Ca' Granda, a hospital for the poor begun in 1456.
Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca
A young Milan university, set up in 1998 on the former industrial land of the Bicocca district, once home to Pirelli and Breda. Seven areas of study, from economics and statistics to psychology and sciences.
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Founded by the emperor Frederick II in 1224, and the oldest public university in the world by its own account. Over 80,000 students and 26 departments, spread across Naples.
Università degli Studi di Padova
Founded in 1222, in a Veneto city of about 210,000 people. It lists the first university botanical garden in the world and the first permanent anatomical theatre.
Università degli Studi di Parma
Roots in a grant by Emperor Otto I in 962, in an Emilia-Romagna city between the Po Valley, Liguria and Tuscany. About 35,000 students and a Science and Technology Campus on 77 hectares.
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Founded in 1361 by an act of Emperor Charles IV, in a medium-sized city south of Milan where the campus is part of the town. More than 26,000 students.
Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata
A campus university founded in 1982 in the southeast of Rome, on one site of 600 hectares. Six schools, with research institutions such as the CNR and the Italian Space Agency on or beside the campus.
Università degli Studi di Siena
Founded in 1240 and run directly by the city government, neither by students nor by teachers. More than 16,000 students in a medieval Tuscan city that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Università degli Studi di Torino
Founded in 1404 in Turin, at the foot of the western Alps. Its graduates include Antonio Gramsci, Norberto Bobbio, Rita Levi Montalcini and two Presidents of the Italian Republic.