Compass
The guide
Rome
Italy · Europe
Italy's capital and its largest university city, where heritage, medicine, law and the UN's food agencies sit in the same place.
Who this suits, and who it doesn’t
Suits you if you want humanities, medicine or law in Europe at a cost the Italian system makes possible, and you will learn Italian. Look elsewhere if you want a fast technical career start — Milan is the working city — or you cannot tolerate slow administration.
The catch, and the way in
The catch
Administration is slower than in the north, the private job market is thinner than Milan's, and nearly everything outside the international organisations runs in Italian.
The way in
Public tuition scales to family income and the regional DSU scholarship can cover fees and a living grant — the same mechanism that makes Italy the cheapest realistic route into Western Europe.
Living there
What living here is actually like
Beautiful, loud and unhurried, with a pace that charms people for a year and frustrates them by the third. Public transport is the weak point, so where you live decides your day. Rents sit below Milan's, winters are mild, and student life is spread across the city rather than gathered on a campus.
How the money works
The income-scaled tuition and the regional DSU grant are the reason to be here, and both are decided on documents about your family's income that have to be legalised correctly and submitted early — the students who lose out lose on paperwork rather than on merit. Living costs are lower than Milan's, and student work is far easier to find in hospitality than in an office.Described in shape rather than figures on purpose: rents and salaries move every year and we cannot keep numbers true, but what is expensive and what quietly eats income stays true for far longer.
The language you actually need
A growing number of master's degrees are taught in English, especially in the sciences and international studies, but Rome runs in Italian: the administration, the hospital placements, the courts and most employers. Assume you need it to convert a degree here into work here.
The work that clusters here
Fields with a real market in this city
Humanities & Social Sciences · Medicine & Health · Law · Arts & Design