Welcome back to Bestineducation — your go-to spot for finding real scholarships and free university routes around the world.
Ever dreamed of studying in Italy without worrying about money? Good news: the Italian Regional “Right to Study” scholarships — known locally as Diritto allo Studio — are officially open for the 2026/2027 academic year. You’ll see them called different names depending on the region: DSU, DiSCo Lazio, EDISU, and a few others. Whatever the name, they all offer the same thing — one of the most generous financial safety nets you’ll find anywhere in Europe for international students.
Here’s what makes them different from most scholarships you’ve probably come across: you don’t need straight A’s to qualify. These grants aren’t about merit — they’re about need. If your family’s income falls within the required range, you could walk away with several thousand euros a year in support. That includes free tuition, a place to live, meals covered, and a cash allowance of up to €6,800.
Italy Regional Grants Overview
Host Country: Italy
Scholarship Name: Regional Diritto allo Studio (DSU, DiSCo, EDISU, ER.GO)
Academic Levels: Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD degrees
Selection Criteria: Primarily Financial Need (Family Income)
Application Fee: Completely Free ($0)
Current Status: Open / Opening Throughout June & July 2026
So What Exactly Do You Get?
Forget the idea of a single scholarship check landing in your account. This is a full package, handled through your province’s university, and if you’re an international student living off-campus, here’s what’s on the table:
- Tuition — Fully waived. No enrollment or registration fees to worry about.
- A place to stay — You’re guaranteed a spot in university housing, whether that’s a single room or shared. And if the dorms happen to be full, the regional office doesn’t just leave you to figure it out — they give you a cash bonus to help cover rent somewhere else.
- Food — One or two hot meals a day at the university cafeteria (or “mensa,” as it’s called in Italy).
- Cash in hand — An annual allowance somewhere between €6,400 and €6,800+, split into two payments straight to your bank account.
The ISEE Parificato: How Eligibility Actually Works
Here’s the part that surprises most people: your grades genuinely don’t factor in. What matters is proving your family earns below a certain regional threshold — usually somewhere between €14,000 and €25,000 a year.
To prove that, you’ll need something called an ISEE Parificato (Equivalent Economic Situation Indicator). Think of it as Italy’s official way of measuring your family’s financial situation on paper.
Documents You’ll Need to Gather
Before you even think about applying, get these documents sorted with the right authorities back home:
- Family members certificate — proves who’s legally living in your household.
- Family income certificate — shows what everyone in your family earned (and paid tax on) during the relevant year.
- Proof of property or rent — whether your family owns their home (including the size in square meters) or rents it.
- Bank statements — the closing balance of your family’s accounts as of December 31 for the relevant tax year.
One thing to keep in mind: none of this counts unless it’s translated into Italian. Documents in your native language won’t be accepted, no exceptions.
Deadlines: Why You Can’t Wait Until You’re in Italy
Since every province runs its own program, deadlines don’t line up with each other — so pay attention to your specific region. The good part is you can handle all of it online before you ever set foot in Italy.
- DiSCo Lazio (Lazio): Applications are open right now. That said, deadlines here move fast, so don’t rely on any date you’ve seen online — go straight to the official DiSCo Lazio portal and confirm the current cutoff before you apply.
- DSU Toscana (Pisa, Florence, Siena): Portals usually open in July and stay open until late August or early September.
- EDISU Piemonte (Piedmont): Typically opens late July and closes around mid-September.
Bottom line: deadlines shift year to year, so before you submit anything, double-check the exact date on your region’s official portal. It only takes a few minutes, and it could save your entire application.
How to Actually Apply, Step by Step
Once you’ve got your documents in order, the process itself isn’t complicated — it just needs to happen in the right sequence.
- Get your university admission sorted first. Apply to a university that actually offers regional scholarships. This part comes before anything else — you can’t apply for the grant without it.
- Pull together every document mentioned above. Family certificate, income certificate, property or rental proof, bank statements — get them all in hand.
- Translate and legalize everything. And this step really matters: documents that aren’t apostilled and legalized simply won’t be accepted, no matter how complete they are otherwise.
- Turn your legalized documents into an ISEE Parificato. This is the official Italian economic score we talked about earlier, and it’s what the whole application hinges on.
- Head to your specific regional portal and submit. DiSCo Lazio if you’re heading to Rome, DSU if it’s Tuscany, and so on — find the right one for your region and get your application in.
Things That Can Get Your Funding Cancelled
Before you get too far into planning your new life in Italy, there are a few rules you really need to know — because breaking any of them can wipe out your funding instantly.
- You can’t repeat a degree you already hold. If you’ve already got a master’s from back home, you’re eligible for a PhD, not another master’s. The system assumes you’re moving forward, not sideways.
- The CFU rule catches a lot of people off guard. Your first year is funded based purely on financial need — no strings attached. But if you want that same funding again the following year, you’ll need to hit a minimum number of university credits (CFU) by August. Miss it, and the money doesn’t renew.
- Your scholarship has a hard time limit. It only covers the official length of your program — exactly two years for a master’s, for example. Go beyond that, and the funding stops being valid, no exceptions.
The takeaway here: this scholarship is generous, but it’s not hands-off. Stay on top of your credits, respect the program timeline, and don’t try to double up on a degree you’ve already earned — and you’ll be fine.