StudVisor — Study Beyond Borders
← Back to Universities
Flag of Italy

Top universities in Italy

10 universities ranked

Italy is home to Europe's oldest university (Bologna, founded 1088) and today combines centuries of academic tradition with genuinely low tuition — most public universities charge non-EU students somewhere between a few hundred and a few thousand euros a year, not the five-figure sums common in the UK or USA. Rankings below are from QS World University Rankings 2027, THE World University Rankings 2026, and ARWU (Shanghai) Rankings 2025, via Study.eu's Italy country table.

#UniversityQS 2027THE 2026ARWU 2025Known For
1Politecnico di Milano87201301Engineering, design, architecture
2Sapienza University of Rome111170101Italy's largest, broad research
3University of Bologna123130201Europe's oldest university, broad research
4University of Padua204201151Medicine, science, Galileo's alma mater
5Politecnico di Torino206401601Engineering, architecture, technology
6University of Milan270301151Broad research, life sciences, law
7University of Pisa341351201Sciences, engineering, one of Italy's oldest
8University of Rome Tor Vergata342301401Economics, engineering, sciences
9Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore388251401Italy's largest private university
10University of Pavia395351401Medicine, law, one of Italy's oldest universities

Note: Bocconi University, Italy's most internationally famous name in business and economics, does not appear in the general QS/THE/ARWU tables above because it's a single-discipline institution outside these rankings' comprehensive-university methodology — but it ranks in the world's top 15 on QS's dedicated Business & Management subject table, and is worth a direct mention to any student focused specifically on finance, economics, or management.

Note on acceptance rates: Most countries outside the US do not officially publish acceptance rates. Any percentage shown here is a third-party aggregator estimate (Yocket, Shiksha, Collegedunia and similar platforms), not official university data — treat it as a rough competitiveness signal, not a precise number.

University profiles

Ready to plan this properly?

A StudVisor counselor reviews your profile, budget and timeline — free, and with no obligation.

Book a Free Consultation with Us