Italy DSU Scholarships 2027/28: The Need-Based Grant Most Internationals Miss
Every Italian region pays a means-tested scholarship (borsa di studio DSU) to students — including international ones — whose family income and assets fall under a set ceiling. The 2026/27 calls closed between July and September 2026; 2027/28 calls are expected from June 2027.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
4 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
DSU stands for Diritto allo Studio Universitario — the “right to university study”. It is not one scholarship but a family of regional ones. Each region (or, in Lombardy and Veneto, each university) publishes a yearly call, the bando, offering a borsa di studio (cash grant), free or cheap canteen meals, a bed in a student residence and exemption from university tuition contributions. Selection is mainly on money, not grades: you qualify if your family’s ISEE and ISPE indicators sit under the region’s ceilings.
International students compete on the same terms as Italians. The only real difference is paperwork: instead of an Italian ISEE, you prove your family’s income and assets abroad with certified, legalised and translated documents, which are turned into an ISEE parificato. That step decides most international applications.
How the system fits together
The Ministry of University and Research (MUR) sets national ceilings and minimum grant amounts every year. For 2026/27, the decrees cited in the regional calls (MUR Directorial Decrees nos. 175 and 176 of 10 February 2026) put the maximum ISEE at €28,339.88 and the maximum ISPE at €61,608.48. The minimum full grant for a fuori sede (away-from-home) student is €7,171.11. Regions may set lower ceilings and add their own money, which is why the numbers differ from Rome to Bologna to Turin.
Who runs it depends on where you study:
| Region | Body that runs the call | 2026/27 ISEE cap |
|---|---|---|
| Lazio (Rome) | DiSCo Lazio | €28,339.88 |
| Tuscany | ARDSU / DSU Toscana | €27,000 |
| Lombardy | Each university (e.g. Politecnico di Milano) | €26,887.93 (PoliMi) |
| Piedmont | EDISU Piemonte | €26,306.25 |
| Veneto | Each university (e.g. Padova, with ESU for housing and meals) | €26,306.25 (Padova) |
| Emilia-Romagna | ER.GO | €25,000 |
Figures from each body’s official 2026/27 call: DiSCo, DSU Toscana, PoliMi supplement, EDISU, Padova, ER.GO.
What a winner actually receives
Benefits →The grant is split into a cash part and a services part. For a fuori sede student in the lowest income band, the 2026/27 packages land close together:
Up to about €7,400–€8,250 a year before deductions. ER.GO and Padova pay €8,246 for the lowest ISEE band; PoliMi’s package totals €8,248 including a daily meal.
One or two free canteen meals a day. Lazio values two daily meals at €600 a year; Tuscany values them at €1,760 for fuori sede students.
A residence bed, if you win one. Its cost is deducted from your cash — e.g. €2,847 at PoliMi residences, €1,600 in Padova’s ESU halls.
Fee exemption for eligible students, handled through the university’s fee rules. Some bodies ask you to tick a separate exemption request in the same form.
Female students on STEM degrees get a 20% increase in most regions, and the lowest-income band gets a 15% increase under DM 1320/2021. You cannot usually stack the two.
The catch: you must keep earning credits
First-year students are ranked on income alone, but the money is conditional. Typically you receive about half the grant in your first months, and the rest only after you pass exams worth 20 credits (CFU) by 10 August of the following year. If you have not reached the minimum by 30 November, the grant is revoked and you must repay it, including the value of the meals and room. PoliMi asks for 35–40 credits. Details on Merit Rules.
The calendar in one paragraph
Deadlines →The 2026/27 calls opened between 10 June (DiSCo) and 22 July 2026 (EDISU) and closed between 21 July and 30 September 2026. As of 6 October 2026 every main call for bachelor’s and master’s students is closed. Calls for 2027/28 are not yet published; based on the 2026 cycle, expect them from June 2027, with the earliest closing in late July. Your consular documents take months, so start them in early 2027. Families who wait for an admission letter before asking for certificates are the ones most likely to miss the first deadlines, especially in Rome and Milan. In 2026, DiSCo closed on 22 July; PoliMi closed on 21 July for later years and 5 August for first-years.
Where to go next
Six questions on income, assets, course and status.
The documents your family must get, legalise and translate.
Ceilings, amounts and deadlines side by side.
Twelve ways international applicants lose the grant.
Start on the official calls
This is an independent guide. Every region rewrites its bando each year, and the Italian text is the legal version. Read the call for the city where you will study — for example DiSCo Lazio’s 2026/27 bando or ER.GO’s 2026/27 bando — then use this guide for the process notes they leave implicit.