Studying at the University of Parma

The story

Parma was a Roman colony from 183 BC. The university says its history has its roots in a grant by Emperor Otto I to the Bishop of Parma, Uberto, and that the city has been a celebrated seat of studies in Europe since the 11th century. The diploma is dated 962 and is kept in the bishop's archive.

The story was not a straight line. In 1387 the Visconti closed the Studium, favouring Pavia. It was reborn under Niccolò III d'Este in the 15th century. Under the Farnese, after 1545, the dukes built to turn Parma into a European capital. The Bourbons issued the Constitutions for new royal studies in 1768 and founded the Palatine Library and the Botanical Garden. The university resumed its activities in full in 1859.

Today the university works from several sites. The central headquarters is at Via Università 12. The Science and Technology Campus, on 77 hectares in the southern area of the city, holds four scientific departments. The Medicine and Surgery program taught in English is on a separate campus in Piacenza, on Via San Bartolomeo.

Who studies here

The university has an academic community of more than 37,000 people, including about 35,000 students, and 32 double degree courses.

Its departments include law, politics and international studies, engineering and architecture, food and drug sciences, medicine and surgery, and medical-veterinary sciences. It also runs a School of Advanced Studies on Food and Nutrition.

Programs taught in English

We list 2 Bachelor's, 12 Master's and 1 single-cycle degree at Parma taught entirely in English.

A selection of them:

• Architecture and Sustainable Cities
• Data Science for Management
• International Business and Development
• Communication Engineering
• Global Studies for Sustainable Local and International Development and Cooperation
• Economics and Management of Sustainable Food System

The city

Parma sits between the Po Valley, Liguria and Tuscany, a position the university credits for centuries of trade and cultural exchange. The university and the City of Parma run a joint project, Parma Città Universitaria, meant to make the city more university-friendly. The university is also a founder and supporter of the committee for Parma European Youth Capital 2027.

For getting around Parma, the university has an agreement with the bus operator TEP and Crédit Agricole that discounts annual urban and interurban bus passes for eligible students.

How admission works for international students

Applicants from outside the EU who live abroad register on the Universitaly portal and choose the University of Parma and the embassy or consulate where they will apply. The university evaluates this pre-application and sends its answer to the applicant and the embassy together. The final decision on a study visa belongs to the diplomatic mission, not to the university. The first fee payment is made after the visa is issued.

The route depends on the level and the program. Bachelor's and single-cycle applicants send documents in a set call window. They send a passport copy, the high school diploma legalised or apostilled, transcripts and the language certificate for the chosen course. An approved applicant gets an acceptance letter for the visa file, to be uploaded on Universitaly. For Master's programs taught in English, the calls open to international applicants are published on the university's admissions portal.

Some programs admit through a test instead. The university lists all the health professions degrees and one Master's in Business administration as programs with an admission test. Others use a local test or a TOLC, an assessment of qualifications or an interview, with a limited number of places.

For other courses taught in English, the required level and how it is checked are set by each degree program. Check the program's own page for the certificate it accepts and any waiver.

For how the tests compare, see the admission tests overview.

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

Fees

This is the fee scheme for students whose household has income and assets abroad, even in part. The first payment is 156 euros, made up of 140 euros regional tax and 16 euros stamp duty. The rest of the tuition depends on the course and on the household's economic situation under the Italian system, up to the maximum for the course. The foreign income documents must be translated, legalised and uploaded through an online account; if they are missing by the deadline, the application is cancelled and the maximum amount is due.

For Master's programs the enrolment application can only be submitted after the visa is issued, and a payment slip for 156 euros is generated at the end of it.

How we help

At Parma the fee is personal: the household's foreign income documents, translated and legalised, go in by the deadline, or the maximum is charged. We start that file early, keep the Universitaly pre-enrolment and the visa in one plan, and prepare the documents Parma asks for, the diploma and its legalisation among them. If you are comparing Parma with another university, we do it with you.

Questions students ask about Parma

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