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University of Bologna

The University of Bologna — formally the Alma Mater Studiorum — was founded in 1088 and is generally regarded as the oldest university in the world still in operation today. It's a large, comprehensive public university, covering essentially every field of study, with a genuinely long-standing role in shaping European higher education: the 1999 Bologna Process, which harmonised degree structures across the EU, takes its name directly from this university and city.

Founded1088Public university
PLACEHOLDER
Type
Public university
Official site
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Admissions
How to apply

About the university

Beyond its main campus in Bologna, the university runs satellite campuses in nearby Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna, and Rimini, plus an international branch in Buenos Aires — a genuinely unusual footprint for an Italian university, and a sign of how far its international exchange network extends.

Bologna the city is built around exactly this kind of student life: covered porticoes designed centuries ago partly to shelter foot traffic between the university and the rest of the city, a long-established food culture, and one of the highest student-to-resident ratios of any Italian city.

As a large, comprehensive public university, its admissions process for international students follows the standard pattern — Universitaly pre-enrolment, a Declaration of Value or CIMEA comparability statement for your prior qualification, and an entrance test or language requirement depending on the specific faculty — with the scale to offer real depth in almost any subject a student is likely to be looking for.

Our on-the-ground support in Bologna is genuinely less deep than in Turin or Milan today — see the Bologna city guide for an honest read on what that means in practice, alongside the full guided application process, which works the same everywhere.

Living in Bologna

Rent, transport, and settling in

How applying here works

  1. 1

    Universitaly pre-enrolment

    Your application to Italy, filed on the government portal.

  2. 2

    Declaration of Value or CIMEA

    Your prior qualification, made readable to an Italian university.

  3. 3

    Entrance test or language check

    Where the faculty asks for one — this is what preparation is for.

We walk you through each step inside the portal. How the application service works, or see the full 20-step journey.