DSU Scholarship in Italy: Who Qualifies and What It Pays
Income limits, regional amounts, credit rules and the documents from home that decide your DSU grant in Italy.
The DSU scholarship is Italy's regional, need-based grant, and non-EU students from abroad can apply for it on the same terms as Italians. If your family's income and assets fall under the limits, you can receive several thousand euros a year, meals, and in many cases a waiver of university fees.
DSU stands for diritto allo studio, the "right to study." It is not paid by your university. A regional agency pays it: ER.GO in Emilia-Romagna, DiSCo in Lazio, EDISU in Piedmont, and similar bodies elsewhere. Each agency publishes its own call for applications (bando) every summer with its own limits, amounts and deadlines.
For most families from Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Bangladesh or Egypt looking for an Italy scholarship for international students, DSU is the largest source of support. It is also the most demanding one on paperwork. Below we explain who qualifies, how much each region pays, what you must do to keep the money, and where applicants usually get stuck.
Who can get the DSU scholarship
DSU is awarded on family income and assets, not on grades, for your first year. Non-EU citizens can apply. Instead of a standard Italian income statement, you use an equivalent calculation for foreign income, called ISEE parificato (some agencies use the term ISEEUP), or you submit official documents about your family's income abroad.
The basic conditions look like this:
- You are enrolled, or about to enroll, at a university or eligible institution in that region.
- Your family's ISEE (income indicator) and ISPE (assets indicator) are under the region's limits.
- Your income documents come from the competent authorities in your home country. Self-declarations are not accepted.
ISEE and ISPE limits: national and regional
The Ministry of Universities sets national maximums each year, and regions may set lower ones. For the current academic year the national limits are ISEE up to €28,339.88 and ISPE up to €61,608.48. Limits for the next year will appear in the new decrees and calls.
| Agency (region) | ISEE limit, current year | ISPE limit, current year |
|---|---|---|
National maximum | €28,339.88 | €61,608.48 |
DiSCo (Lazio) | €28,339.88 | €61,608.48 |
EDISU (Piedmont) | €26,306.25 | €57,187.53 |
ER.GO (Emilia-Romagna) | €25,000 | €50,000 |
The same family can qualify in one region and miss the limit in another. If your family's figures are close to the line, compare regions before you choose a university. We check this as part of the university shortlist, not after admission. For the wider picture of costs, see our guide to studying in Italy.
How much DSU pays in each region
The national minimum amounts for the current academic year are €7,171.11 for students living away from home, €4,190.71 for commuters and €2,890.16 for students living at home. Regions then scale the grant by ISEE: the lower your family's ISEE, the higher the payment.
| Agency | Maximum for *fuori sede* | How it drops as ISEE rises | Meals |
|---|---|---|---|
ER.GO (Emilia-Romagna) | €7,171.11 at ISEE up to €16,666.67 | Steps down to €4,661, €3,872, then €3,586 at ISEE €20,818–25,000 | Part of the grant can be converted into meals |
DiSCo (Lazio) | €7,556.78 plus meals at ISEE up to €14,169.94; standard rate €6,571.11 in cash plus meals | From ISEE €18,893.25 it falls gradually to €3,285.60 | 2 free meals a day, valued at €600 |
EDISU (Piedmont) | About €8,097 at ISEE up to €13,153.12 | About €7,021 in the next band; cut by 50% at ISEE €23,626–26,306.25 | Not covered by our fact base |
Extra top-ups exist but are not guaranteed. In ER.GO, students with ISEE up to €12,500 can get +15%, and women in STEM programs +20%, only if budget remains, and the two do not combine.
DSU winners also usually save on fees. In ER.GO, losing the grant means losing the tuition exemption, so the exemption comes with it. At the University of Bologna, ER.GO grant holders are fully exempt from fees. At Padova, non-EU students on the fixed fee can be exempted through DSU.
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ISEE parificato and income documents from abroad
For most non-EU applicants, the hard part is not the application form but the income documents from home. Each agency sets which income year counts. In the current cycle, ER.GO asked foreign students for income and assets documents for the previous calendar year, while DiSCo Lazio calculated ISEE on income and assets from the year before that, as of December 31. Check the year in your region's new call before you order papers.
Preparing your DSU income file from abroad
Pick the region — read the agency's call and note the income year, limits and deadlines.
Collect official documents — family composition, income and assets, issued by the competent authorities in your country. Self-declarations are rejected.
Legalize them — apostille if your country is in the Hague Convention (India, Pakistan since March 9, 2023, Bangladesh since March 30, 2025, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain). Nigeria, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait are not members, so documents need consular legalization at the Italian embassy.
Translate into Italian — by the Italian consulate or an official translator. An alternative is a certificate from your country's consulate in Italy, legalized at the Prefettura.
Get the ISEE parificato calculated — usually at an accredited tax assistance center (CAF) in Italy. DiSCo Lazio allowed this until December 10 in the last cycle.
Deadlines fall in summer, often before you arrive in Italy. In the last cycle, ER.GO accepted applications from June 23 to August 24, DiSCo Lazio until July 22, and EDISU from about July 22 to September 4. The next dates will be in the new calls, so treat these only as a guide and start collecting documents in spring.
Keeping DSU: credits and what happens if you lose it
In the first year DSU is granted on income alone, but you keep it only by earning credits (CFU). The key number is 20 CFU. Miss it by the final deadline and the grant is revoked.
| Milestone | ER.GO (current intake) | DiSCo Lazio (current intake) |
|---|---|---|
Next installment | 9 CFU by February 28 | — |
Final balance | 25 CFU by August 10 (up to 5 bonus credits allowed) | 20 CFU by August 10 of the following year |
Last chance to avoid repayment | 20 CFU by November 30 of the next year | 20 CFU by November 30 of the following year |
ER.GO also gives bonus credits you can use once: 5 after the first year, 12 after the second, 15 after the third. Once you use the bonus, it stops growing.
Revocation (revoca) is expensive. In ER.GO, a first-year student without 20 CFU by November 30 repays all payments received and the full cost of prepaid meals, and loses the tuition exemption and the regional tax refund. A residence place stays at the eligible-student rate. In DiSCo Lazio, you repay everything received plus the cost of services and pay tuition. Repayment is due in one sum by December 31, or in up to 18 monthly installments on request.
One more point: 25% of funds go to first-year students and 75% to later years in ER.GO and DiSCo. If the budget runs short, a student can be idoneo (eligible) and still receive no money.
A year on the ER.GO grant: key dates
Emilia-Romagna, last cycle as a guide; new dates will be in the new calls
Spring
Collect income documents
Deadlines fall in summer, often before you arrive, so start collecting your family's documents in spring.
June 23 – August 24
Apply to ER.GO
ER.GO's application window in the last cycle; late applications were rejected.
By February 28
9 CFU
Credits needed for the next installment of the grant.
By August 10
25 CFU
Credits needed for the final balance, with up to 5 bonus credits allowed.
By November 30 of the next year
20 CFU
Last chance to avoid repayment: miss it and you repay everything received, including meals.
Other scholarships and fee cuts for international students
DSU is not the only way to reduce costs. Several universities have their own rules for non-EU families living abroad.
Fee reductions and merit awards
- University of Bologna: a reduced fixed fee for citizens of non-OECD countries with income only abroad — €1,000 + €157.04 a year for a bachelor's. For particularly poor countries, including Bangladesh, it is €500 + €157.04. It cannot be combined with the No Tax Area exemption.
- University of Padova: non-EU students with family abroad pay a fixed €2,790 or €2,990 a year. Students from the list of particularly poor countries, including Bangladesh, pay one third.
- Politecnico di Milano: fees depend on ISEE, from €157.04 to €3,943.04 a year. Master's students with a foreign degree and no scholarship pay the maximum.
Read more on the pages for the University of Bologna, Politecnico di Milano, Bocconi and NABA. Private university fees for the next academic year are not yet announced.
What to know before you apply
DSU is real money, but it sits on top of a slow system. Here is what we tell every family before they count on it.
The admission and visa timeline comes first. You pre-enroll only through the official Universitaly portal. A university can validate applications only up to its foreign-student quota +20%, so apply early. You also need two CIMEA certificates or a Dichiarazione di valore for your school diploma, a visa application at the consulate by October 31 for bachelor's and master's programs, and a permesso di soggiorno application within 8 working days of arrival. See our guides to admission via Universitaly and the Italy student visa.
DSU does not count for the visa. The consulate requires €10,179.85 per academic year. Being idoneo or having applied for DSU does not count toward this. Only a scholarship already awarded does. Plan to show the full amount from family funds.
Losing DSU means repaying it. As shown above, missing 20 CFU triggers repayment of everything received. Choose a program you can pass in your language of instruction, and plan your first-year exams around the credit deadlines.
Housing is scarce and expensive. A DSU application is not accommodation for the visa. Only an assigned residence place, a lease or a hotel booking counts. Private rooms cost around €704 a month in Milan, €615 in Rome and €585 in Bologna. Budget for private rent even if you apply for a residence place.
Check the institution's status. Private academies in the AFAM sector (art, design, music) follow different rules from universities, and the type of diploma differs by program. Check the program's official status and whether its students are covered by the regional DSU call before you apply. We verify this for every AFAM program on your shortlist.
Motivation letter: template and a paragraph-by-paragraph guide
A ready skeleton in English with a note on what each paragraph has to do, plus the mistakes that make a letter useless.
- Where a letter is really required and where it is not
- A five-paragraph template with example wording
- How to strengthen it with specifics and numbers
- Seven mistakes and a checklist before you send
Not sure which region your family's income fits, or which documents your country needs for DSU? Book a free consultation. We will estimate your ISEE band against the current limits, suggest universities in regions where you qualify, and build a document timeline for the next intake. Write to us through the site form, WhatsApp or Telegram, or visit our contacts page.
