study in Rome
Italy's capital and home to Europe's largest university by enrolment — cheaper than Milan, historically extraordinary, and slower as a job market.
Rome offers scale and price that Milan does not. Sapienza is among the largest universities in Europe by enrolment, which means an enormous breadth of programmes and a low-cost public-university fee structure banded by income.
Living here is unlike anywhere else — the archaeology is ordinary rather than exceptional, the food culture is deep, and student life is spread across a very large city rather than concentrated in one quarter.
Two honest limitations. The graduate job market is weaker than Milan's, weighted toward public administration and tourism. And the rental market is difficult — supply is constrained by tourism and the bureaucracy around registration is slow.
Several large public universities plus private institutions. ISEE banding applies at the public ones.
Sapienza Università di Roma
Among Europe's largest universities; medicine, engineering, archaeology, economics and the humanities.Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata
Large public university in the south-east; medicine, economics, engineering and sciences.Università Roma Tre
Public; engineering, architecture, law, economics and education.LUISS Guido Carli
Private; political science, economics, law and management, with a strongly international outlook.Rome costs meaningfully less than Milan overall, though its rental market is tight. Public tuition is banded by the ISEE exactly as elsewhere, and Lazio's regional grants operate on the same income basis.
Against the other cities we cover in Italy, Rome is mid-range. That is our reading of this country’s own spread, not a published index.
Tuition at an Italian public university is scaled to declared family income via the ISEE.
The practical texture of the place — what a week actually looks like.
Climate
Mediterranean — hot dry summers and mild wet winters. Much gentler than Milan's continental pattern.
Getting around
Two main metro lines plus extensive buses and trams, with student rates. Coverage is patchier than Milan's; choose housing near a line.
Housing
Tight, with tourism competing for supply. Regional DSU housing places are the affordable route — apply on time.
Working
Up to 20 hours a week (1,040 hours a year) for non-EU students. Italian is normally required.
Language
Some English-taught programmes, particularly at LUISS and in the sciences. Daily life runs entirely in Italian.
Bureaucracy
Slower here than in the north. Apply for the permesso di soggiorno within eight days of arrival and expect the process to take months.
Beyond income-banded tuition, Italy offers regional right-to-study grants (DSU) — awarded by the region, and able to cover fees, a housing place and a meal allowance together.
Lazio runs its own right-to-study body with its own thresholds and deadlines, separate from Lombardy's or Emilia-Romagna's. Apply for the regional grant at the same time as you file the ISEE parificato — they use the same income documents, and the deadlines usually fall before term starts. A student who files both correctly can study at a public Italian university for very little; one who files neither pays the top band and rents privately.
Rome is one of 3 cities we cover in Italy. Tap any pin to compare — the city you pick moves your total cost more than almost any other choice you make.