University of Florence
The University of Florence (Università degli Studi di Firenze) traces its roots to 1321, with its modern institutional structure dating from a 19th-century reorganisation. It's a large, comprehensive public university — architecture, humanities, law, economics, engineering, medicine, and agricultural sciences all run alongside each other — set inside a city that is itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of the Renaissance.
- City
- Florence
- Type
- Public university
- Official site
- Visit website
- Admissions
- How to apply
About the university
That setting shows up directly in the university's character: its architecture, art history, and humanities faculties draw on Florence's own artistic and cultural weight, while its science and engineering departments benefit from a genuinely large, well-resourced comprehensive institution behind them. Florence is also one of Europe's most popular exchange and Erasmus destinations, with a large international student population enrolled at any given time.
Our on-the-ground support in Florence is genuinely less deep than in Turin or Milan today — see the Florence city guide for an honest read on what that means in practice, alongside the full guided application process, which works the same everywhere.
Admission for international students generally runs through the standard route: Universitaly pre-enrolment, a Declaration of Value or CIMEA comparability statement for your prior qualification, and — depending on faculty — an entrance test or a language requirement if you're studying in Italian. Florence's academic calendar follows the typical Italian pattern of two semesters.
See the Florence city guide for what living and studying in Florence looks like beyond the university itself.
Living in Florence
Rent, transport, and settling in
How applying here works
- 1
Universitaly pre-enrolment
Your application to Italy, filed on the government portal.
- 2
Declaration of Value or CIMEA
Your prior qualification, made readable to an Italian university.
- 3
Entrance test or language check
Where the faculty asks for one — this is what preparation is for.
We walk you through each step inside the portal. How the application service works, or see the full 20-step journey.