Italy DSU Benefits: What You Get, and When It Arrives
A DSU grant is part cash, part services. The headline figure includes meals and, for residence winners, the cost of your room — so the money that reaches your bank account is smaller and comes in instalments.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
3 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
National minimum amounts for 2026/27
MUR Decree no. 175 of 10 February 2026 raised the minimum full grants by 1.4%. These are the floors regions build on, as reproduced in ER.GO’s and Padova’s calls:
| Status | Full grant | Lowest band (+15%) | Female STEM (+20%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuori sede (away from home) | €7,171.11 | €8,246.78 | €8,605.33 |
| Pendolare (commuter) | €4,190.71 | €4,819 | €5,028.85 |
| In sede (local) | €2,890.16 | €3,323 | €3,468.19 |
The full amount is paid up to two-thirds of the ISEE cap; above that it tapers to half. The +15% band applies to the lowest ISEEs (≤ €12,500 at ER.GO, ≤ €13,153.11 in Padova, ≤ €14,169.94 in Lazio). Lazio’s own table is lower in cash but adds two free meals a day valued at €600: €6,571.11 standard and €7,556.78 for the lowest band.
Meals, housing and the deductions
Regions →Services are paid for out of your grant. That is why two students with the same headline award can receive very different cash:
| Body | Meals | Residence room |
|---|---|---|
| DiSCo Lazio | 2 free meals a day (valued €600) | Monthly rent, e.g. €227–€298 a month for a single in Rome; €700 taken from instalment 1, rest from instalment 2 |
| Politecnico di Milano | 1 meal a day; €829 deducted | €2,847 deducted for PoliMi residences |
| Padova / ESU | 1 meal a day; €760 deducted (fuori sede) | €1,600 deducted for ESU residences |
| EDISU Piemonte | Canteen access | €245.45 a month if assigned mid-year |
| DSU Toscana | 2 meals a day (valued €1,760) | Free room (valued €3,150), or up to €3,150 rent contribution |
Example: a PoliMi fuori-sede student in the first band living in a PoliMi residence receives €4,620 in cash plus the room and a daily meal, for a total value of €8,248. The same student renting privately receives €7,419 in cash plus the meal — also €8,248 in total (PoliMi supplement). Lazio says plainly that unused services are not converted to cash, except where no DiSCo canteen exists.
Tuition exemption
Students who are eligible for the grant are exempt, fully or partly, from university tuition contributions. How you get it varies: ER.GO has a separate “esonero totale” request in the same form, Padova applies it through its fee regulations, and DiSCo refunds the regional DSU tax automatically to grant winners and eligible students. You usually still pay the regional tax and stamp duty upfront — Padova requires the first instalment, even if it is only €16, by 30 September to stay in the competition.
When the money arrives
Merit →For first-year students, roughly half the grant is paid in the first months on income alone; the rest depends on exams. 2026/27 schedules:
- DiSCo (bachelor’s first-years): 20% by 10 November 2026, 30% by 27 December 2026, 50% from October 2027 if you have 20 credits by 10 August 2027. First-year master’s: 50% by 27 December 2026, 50% later.
- ER.GO (bachelor’s first-years): four instalments — 20% by 10 November, 30% by 31 December 2026, a third after the 28 February 2027 credit check and a fourth after 10 August 2027.
- EDISU: 20% from mid-November and 30% from late December 2026; the second 50% from late June 2027 (20 credits by 31 May) or late November 2027 (20 credits by 10 August).
- DSU Toscana: 50% advance on income; the remaining 50% after 20 credits (15 for a master’s) by 10 August 2027.
Students in later years usually receive the grant in one or two payments, because merit was already checked when they applied.
Even a winner may receive nothing until November. Your visa still requires proof of means on arrival, and rent is due from September. Plan to cover at least the first two to three months yourself.