Introduction to Regional Scholarships
This covers the regional scholarship how an international student. Can get a regional scholarship that can pay up to €7,800, covering tuition fee, accommodation, meals, and multiple discounts.
Understanding the Regional Scholarship System
The regional scholarship, formerly known as the Diritto allo Studio Universitario. Is essentially the right to study higher education in Italy. Italy is divided into 20 different regions and each region manages its own fund for. All the universities that lie in those regions. The government pays some amount to those regions for whoever applies to a university under. What region and meets the eligibility criteria.
For example, if you get into the University of Siena, you apply to DSU in Tuscany. If you go to Turin or Pavia, you apply to ADISU in the Piedmont or Lombardy region. If you go to Rome, you apply to LaDisCo. There are 20 different regions, and keeping track of all of them can be quite involved. A compiled list of all of them is available on the website. Including their individual websites where you can check deadlines.
Benefits of the Regional Scholarship
This scholarship is a need-based scholarship, meaning it is awarded based on family income. And financial situation grades do not factor into the award. If you win this scholarship, the first benefit is that your complete tuition. Fee will be waived for the whole year. The second benefit is that your accommodation will be completely free, whether you choose to stay in a university hostel or live outside. The third benefit is free meals every day one or two meals, depending on the region.
Accommodation and Meal Provisions
If you do not get a hostel in the university, a cash grant will be provided so you can cover living expenses outside whether in a house, shared apartment, or studio for the whole academic year. Some regions such as DSU or ADSU provide between €7,240 and €7,800, and this amount varies region to region.
If you are staying in university accommodation and eating at the mess, the cost of those services will be deducted and the remaining amount will be deposited directly into your Italian bank account to spend as needed.
Eligibility Criteria and the ISEE Certificate
Eligibility is determined using a certificate known as the ISEE, which is calculated according to your financial situation based on documents you provide. The ISEE is issued by the CAF office. Once you land in Italy, you submit the physical documents, the CAF office legalizes them, and then issues the ISEE, on the basis of which the regional scholarship is awarded.
To be eligible, your family income must be less than €24,000. If it falls between €23,000 and €25,000, you can still apply, but if your family income is under €24,000, you are in a strong position and will very likely receive this scholarship.
Maintaining the Scholarship for the Second Year
For the first year, the scholarship is awarded entirely on the basis of financial situation. For the second year, it becomes merit-based. You will need to earn 30 to 35 credit points by August. If those credit points are not achieved for example, if some exams are failed the scholarship will be cancelled and you will need to cover costs through other means. Studying consistently is essential to renewing the scholarship each year until your degree ends.
Documents Required for Application
This is where most students face difficulties, as documents are the most critical part of the process. Preparation should begin 2 to 3 months in advance, as the documents also need to be attested and legalized, which takes considerable time.
The first document needed is a pre-acceptance letter or university admission letter. All required documents will need to be prepared well ahead of the scholarship deadlines.
Admission Letters and Family Registration
For medicine and surgery applicants, the admission letter arrives quite late, but regional scholarship deadlines are earlier. In that case, a pre-enrollment summary can be used as the basis for applying. All other bachelor and master programs issue admission letters earlier, so those can be used directly. Without a pre-acceptance or acceptance letter, you cannot apply for this scholarship.
The second document needed is a family registration certificate, also known as an FRC. The third document is a family income certificate. This must show the income of your parents or sponsor for the previous calendar year. Some regions require two years of income tax returns, so it is worth checking the specific requirements of the region you are applying to by reviewing the previous year’s call.
Financial Documents and Legalization
A property certificate is also required, showing any houses, land, or assets your family owns. If you live in a rented house, that needs to be shown as well. If there are no assets, documentation of where you are living must be provided. The last document is a bank certificate showing the bank balance of the family member who will be acting as your sponsor, most likely your father.
Once all these documents are prepared, they need to be translated into Italian, apostilled or legalized through a local Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and finally legalized at the Italian embassy in your country. This process is why preparation needs to begin well in advance.
Deadlines and Application Procedures
Most regional scholarship portals begin opening from June or July, though some regions open in late August or early September. Different regions have different deadlines. To check them, visit the regional website for whichever region your university is in and review the previous year’s call to predict when the next one will open. A list of regional websites is available in the description.
The moment a call opens, an account needs to be created, the application form filled out, and all the required documents uploaded in soft copy no hard copies are needed at this stage. Some regions such as DSU and ADISU open quite late, around mid to late September.
Ranking and Selection Process
The provisional ranking is published around late October, November, or early December. There will be two to three provisional rankings. In the first provisional ranking, if your name does not appear or you receive a rejection, the reason will be stated usually a missing document. Once the deficiency is addressed, you wait for the second provisional ranking. If your name does not appear there either, a third ranking follows as well.
If you meet the eligibility criteria family income under €24,000 and all documents are properly prepared, the scholarship will be awarded. Every document needs to be correctly and completely prepared.
Finalizing the Scholarship in Italy
Once your name appears in the ranking, hard legalized copies of all documents must be submitted to the CAF office upon arriving in Italy. The CAF office will then legalize the documents and issue the ISEE, and on the basis of that the scholarship amount will be deposited directly into your bank account.
The process is straightforward but requires careful attention, particularly with document preparation. An incorrect property certificate, for example, can result in the scholarship being cancelled. If you are preparing documents on your own, avoid any mistakes as they can cost an entire year’s worth of scholarship.
Final Tips and Additional Support
If assistance is needed with scholarship application or document preparation, a form is available on the website. If your profile matches the criteria, a reply will be sent.
For those applying for medicine and surgery or any other bachelor or master program, there is also a second scholarship available known as the merit-based scholarship, which has its own separate criteria.