Best universities in Italy 2023

Explore the top universities in Italy using data from the Times Higher Education's World University Rankings 2023

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October 28 2022

Top 8 universities in Italy

Scroll down for the full list of best universities in Italy

Italy rank 2023	WUR rank 2023	University	City
1	=161	University of Bologna	Bologna
2	=183	Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa	Pisa
=3	201–250	Humanitas University	Milan
=3	201–250	University of Padua	Padua
=3	201–250	Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa	Pisa
=3	201–250	Sapienza University of Rome	Rome
=3	201–250	Vita-Salute San Raffaele University	Milan
8	251–300	University of Pavia	Pavia

It isn’t difficult to see why Italy is a popular place to study. After all, it is the home of the University of Bologna, believed to be the world’s oldest university.

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Situated in the heart of southern Europe, Italy has a multitude of landscapes: from the alpine pistes in the north to the Mediterranean beaches in the south. You would be forgiven for thinking you had crossed international borders every time you entered a new region.

Italy (tied with China) is home to more Unesco World Heritage sites than any other nation in the world. These attractions, alongside Italy’s famous cuisine and rich history, are just some of the reasons it is among the world’s most visited countries each year.

If you think Italy sounds like a good destination for your studies, read on to find out about the nation’s best institutions based on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023.

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Every major Italian town has a university, most of which are state-funded. However, there are also private universities and superior graduate schools, which are specifically focused on teaching and research at graduate level and above.

There are four main types of qualification in the Italian higher education system. The most basic is the three-year laurea – the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree.

The laurea magistrale consists of the three-year laurea followed by an additional two years of study, which makes it the equivalent of a master’s degree. Then there’s the laurea magistrale a ciclo unico, a five- or six-year course only awarded in some fields – including medicine, architecture and law – which is similar to an integrated master’s degree because there is no separation between the bachelor’s and master’s parts to the qualification.

Finally there’s the dottorato di ricerca, a doctoral programme primarily offered in superior graduate schools.

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=3. Vita-Salute San Raffaele University

The Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, also known as UniSR, is a private university in Milan.

The university is particularly well known for groundbreaking research in cancer, HIV/AIDS and rare diseases.

The institution began in 1996 with only one department of psychology, but today it has Faculties of medicine and surgery, psychology and philosophy, all following cognitive and experimental lines of thought. Courses tend to have an interdisciplinary emphasis.

=3. Sapienza University of Rome

The Sapienza University of Rome was founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, making it Rome’s oldest university.

It is the largest university in Europe, supporting about 115,000 students, including nearly 9,000 international students, and almost 4,000 academic staff.

It offers 280 degree programmes and 200 specialist courses across 63 departments, with 50 libraries available for student use (the largest number of any Italian university) as well as 18 museums.

=3. Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa

The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa is a public university specialising in applied sciences.

The university has a rigorous entrance exam and if students are able to achieve top marks and demonstrate proficiency in two languages, they are able to study for free. As a result, the student population is very small with fewer than 1,000 students attending the university.

The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies offers degrees in business sciences, economic sciences, legal sciences, political sciences, agricultural sciences, medical sciences, industrial engineering and information engineering.

=3. University of Padua

The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law.

It is the second oldest university in Italy and the world’s fifth oldest university.

The university is made up of 32 departments and eight schools. It also has a university hospital, a museum and 14 halls of residence.

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=3. Humanitas University

Humanitas University is a private university which specialises in the medical sciences.

The university provides a six-year medical course which is taught in English. There is also a three-year course in nursing and a three-year course in physiotherapy, both of which are taught in Italian. The university offers 11 other courses postgraduate courses in urology and endoscopy.

The university is part of the Humanitas group, a group of private hospitals in Milan.

2. Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa

The University of Pisa and Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, is a part of the Pisa University system.

The university was founded in 1810 as a branch of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

It offers programmes in both the humanities and sciences and still operates from its original building, Palazzo della Carovana, in the medieval centre of Pisa.

1. University of Bologna

The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is believed to be the world’s oldest university.

There are campuses in Bologna, Cesena, Forli, Ravenna and Rimini in Italy and an international campus in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Bologna has varied nightlife and lots of live music, from opera to modern DJs and bands.

The University of Bologna is also responsible for the Bologna Process, a series of agreements between European countries with the aim of ensuring cooperation and comparability between the higher education systems of Europe.

The university’s long list of alumni includes Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, a number of popes, Nobel-winning inventor and engineer Guglielmo Marconi, and Enzo Ferrari and Giorgio Armani, founders of their eponymous brands.

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Top universities in Italy 2023

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2023 results

Italy rank 2023	WUR rank 2023	University	City
1	=161	University of Bologna	Bologna
2	=183	Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa	Pisa
=3	201–250	Humanitas University	Milan
=3	201–250	University of Padua	Padua
=3	201–250	Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa	Pisa
=3	201–250	Sapienza University of Rome	Rome
=3	201–250	Vita-Salute San Raffaele University	Milan
8	251–300	University of Pavia	Pavia
=9	301–350	University of Milan	Milan
=9	301–350	University of Milan-Bicocca	Milan
=9	301–350	Politecnico di Milano	Milan
=12	351–400	University of Brescia	Brescia
=12	351–400	University of Naples Federico II	Naples
=12	351–400	University of Rome II – Tor Vergata	Rome
=12	351–400	Verona University	Verona
=16	401–500	University of Catania	Catania
=16	401–500	University of Ferrara	Ferrara
=16	401–500	University of Florence	Florence
=16	401–500	Free University of Bozen-Bolzano	Bolzano
=16	401–500	University of Genoa	Genoa
=16	401–500	University of Modena and Reggio Emilia	Modena
=16	401–500	University of Pisa	Pisa
=16	401–500	University of Siena	Siena
=16	401–500	University of Trento	Trento
=16	401–500	University of Turin	Turin
=26	501–600	University of L’Aquila	L’Aquila
=26	501–600	University of Insubria	Como and Varese
=26	501–600	University of Messina	Messina
=26	501–600	University of Salerno	Salerno
=26	501–600	University of Sassari	Sassari
=26	501–600	University of Trieste	Trieste
=26	501–600	University of Tuscia	Viterbo
=26	501–600	University of Udine	Udine
=34	601–800	Amedeo Avogadro University of Eastern Piedmont	Vercelli
=34	601–800	University of Bari Aldo Moro	Bari
=34	601–800	Ca’ Foscari University of Venice	Venice
=34	601–800	University of Camerino (Unicam)	Camerino
=34	601–800	Gabriele d‘Annunzio University	Abruzzo
=34	601–800	Kore University of Enna	Enna
=34	601–800	Marche Polytechnic University	Ancona
=34	601–800	University of Parma	Parma
=34	601–800	University of Perugia	Perugia
=34	601–800	Polytechnic University of Bari	Bari
=34	601–800	Polytechnic University of Turin	Turin
=34	601–800	University of Sannio	Benevento
=34	601–800	University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli	Caserta
=47	801–1000	University of Bergamo	Bergamo
=47	801–1000	University of Calabria	Cosenza
=47	801–1000	University of Foggia	Foggia
=47	801–1000	University of Palermo	Palermo
=47	801–1000	Parthenope University of Naples	Naples
=47	801–1000	University of Rome III	Rome
=47	801–1000	University of Salento	Lecce
=47	801–1000	University of Urbino Carlo Bo	Urbino
55	1501+	University of Macerata (UNIMC)	Macerata