Italian Government Scholarship Eligibility: Who the Call Is For

Citizenship first, then the course

MAECI does not run a global talent lottery that anyone with a strong GPA can enter. It runs a citizenship-based selection. Each annual call comes with a list of the countries whose citizens may apply, published on the Study in Italy portal. That list is not implied by this handbook. When the 2027–28 call is published on the official MAECI page, read the country list before you collect transcripts.

You apply for one country only. The Italian Embassy or Consulate competent for that country reads the file. Filing twice — two passports, two missions, two “just in case” accounts — is not a hedge. It is a rules violation. Pick the country of citizenship through which you will actually travel, sit any interview, and later collect a visa sticker.

Dual Italian and foreign citizens apply through the foreign-country track, entering their foreign citizenship in the “Citizenship” field and declaring (with proof) their Italian citizenship. You do not apply as an Italian national for a scholarship designed for foreign citizens. If you hold several foreign nationalities, you still file once, through one beneficiary country. The last published call treated this as a hard administrative choice, not a branding preference.

Which type can you enter as a first award?

Laurea Magistrale — 9 months, renewable

A second-cycle master's at an Italian university. You need a completed first-cycle degree equivalent to an Italian Laurea triennale, university admission (or a realistic path to it), and the language level that matches the teaching language. Renewal is possible in later calls if you remain eligible and the call still offers it — it is not automatic.

AFAM — 9 months, renewable

Higher education in arts, music and dance (Alta Formazione Artistica, Musicale e Coreutica), first or second cycle. Conservatoires and academies are not a side door around university rules: they have their own admission tests and their own required qualifications. The grant length in the last call was nine months and renewable.

PhD — 9 months, renewable

Doctoral study in Italy. A MAECI year is not a four-year stipend in the UK or US sense; it is a nine-month grant that may be renewed if later calls allow. You need a doctoral place: the last call asked for the PhD admission letter (pre-admission letters were not accepted), or, if you did not have it yet, a declaration plus an invitation letter from your supervisor.

Research projects — 9 months, not renewable

A defined research stay under academic supervision at an Italian university, public research institution, recognised museum or archive. The last call required an invitation letter from the supervisor plus your research project. This type is not renewable, and you were excluded if you had already held a MAECI research grant in the previous five academic years. Do not treat it as a renewable master's with a different label.

Italofonia language — 3 months

A short Italian language and culture course. The last published threshold was Italian A2 or above. This is not a substitute for a master's grant and not a way to skip B2 later if you then apply for an Italian-taught degree.

Costruiamo il futuro bachelor — renewal only

The bachelor path in the last call was renewal only, for students who already received it under the 2025–26 call. A first-year bachelor application on this track is the wrong file. If you were never on that programme, this type is not your entry point.

Age caps and exclusions in the last call

Age limits belong to each annual call, and the 2026–27 call set them out clearly. Use them as the last published pattern until the 2027–28 PDF restates them.

Applicants must be adults. Renewals are exempt from the age caps for master's, AFAM, PhD and the bachelor track.

Applicants were also excluded if any of these applied (the first three rules did not apply to renewals):

• Enrolled in, or holding, a secondary-school diploma obtained in Italy.
• Enrolled in, or holding, a degree from an Italian university or AFAM institution in Italy, or from a foreign institution located in Italy.
• Enrolling in a year of the chosen programme other than the first.
• Employees of the Italian Public Administration and their first-degree descendants.
• Programmes outside the scheme: ordinary bachelor's (except AFAM and the renewal track), single-cycle degrees, university “Master” courses, specialisation courses, one-year courses, single courses, part-time or “fuori corso” enrolment.

Three nine-month “Attanasio” scholarships were also reserved for applicants from Morocco, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo in international relations, development cooperation, and humanitarian and human-rights law.

Admission is a separate door

A scholarship decision and a university decision are not the same stamp. Pre-enrolment and many admission tests run through Universitaly. Joint and double degrees must still produce a valid Italian enrolment certificate, which the last call made mandatory for payment. A foreign enrolment letter alone is not enough if the Italian side cannot certify that you are enrolled in Italy.

Minimum grades, the exact list of eligible countries and any reserved quotas belong to each annual call. If a blog lists an age cap or a country as if it were permanent law, treat it as last year's photocopy until MAECI republishes it.

A short eligibility check

Answer eight questions against the last published MAECI pattern. This is a planning tool, not an official decision — you must re-read the current country list on esteri.it.

Study in Italy, one mission, Universitaly — in that order of attention, and in parallel where it matters.