Studying at the University of Padua

The story

The University of Padua says its Studium Patavinum was founded in 1222, as a place of study that took in people from several European countries, looking for freedom of culture and expression. The motto it still uses is Universa universis patavina libertas.

The university lists some firsts of its own: the first university botanical garden in the world, founded in 1545 and now on the UNESCO World Heritage list; the first permanent anatomical theatre, opened in 1594; and Elena Lucrezia Cornaro, named as the first woman in the world to take a degree. It also names Copernicus, Vesalius, Galilei and Harvey among the people tied to the university.

The central offices are on Via 8 Febbraio in Padua. It is a distributed campus: its buildings are spread over different areas of the city, with other sites in the surrounding area.

Who studies here

Padua has 76,000 students, 2,700 teaching staff, 32 departments and more than 15,000 graduates a year. Around 10,000 of its students are international.

For 2026/27 the university counts 229 degree programs across Bachelor's, Master's and single-cycle levels.

Programs taught in English

We list 7 Bachelor's, 60 Master's and 2 single-cycle degrees at Padua taught entirely in English.

A selection of them:

• Information Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Data Science
• Applied Economics
• Human Rights and Multi Level Governance
• Aerospace Engineering

The city

Padua sits in the Veneto between Venice, Vicenza, Treviso and Rovigo, in a city of around 210,000 inhabitants where students are a large part of daily life. The tourist office puts Venice and Vicenza about half an hour away by train, and Verona and Treviso about an hour.

The station is under 20 minutes on foot from the centre, and buses and a tram line also serve the city. The city's tourist office estimates that at least half of its students get around by bicycle. In summer students go to the Piovego riverbank for an aperitif.

How admission works for international students

The university treats anyone with a qualification obtained abroad who wants a full degree in Italy as an international student. For a Bachelor's or single-cycle degree you need a minimum of 12 years of schooling. The university also runs a Foundation Year for students whose diploma came after 11 years. For a Master's you need a Bachelor's degree or an equivalent foreign qualification that meets the program's curricular requirements.

The Admissions and Welcome Unit decides whether a qualification is accepted. The university publishes a list of entry requirements by country, and you can still apply if your country is not on it.

Applicants with a qualification from abroad apply on Apply@Unipd. There is a first call, and Bachelor's programs with limited access publish their own windows. Some Master's programs have a second call.

Some Bachelor's programs ask for the CISIA CEnT-S test, which you register for with CISIA. Applicants to English-taught programs need English at B2 level or higher, whatever their citizenship or residence. The certificate can be sent after the application, within the enrolment deadline.

The test guides that apply here: the CEnT-S guide and the overview of admission tests.

Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine in English are covered on our Medicine in Italy page.

Fees

For 2026/27, students from outside the EU whose household is not resident in Italy pay a fixed fee that is not recalculated, set by degree group, from €2,790 to €2,990 a year. Students from countries on the ministry's low human development list pay a lower fixed fee, €930 to €996.66 a year, and for them that is the cost. The fixed fees are all-inclusive.

How we help

We tell you which call and which test apply to your program, keep the Apply@Unipd window, the Universitaly pre-enrolment where it applies, and the visa in one plan, and prepare the documents the university asks for. If you are weighing Padua against another university, we compare them with you.

Questions students ask about Padua

Rules, dates and fees change every year. Confirm them in the official call for your own year before you act on them.