University of Genoa
The University of Genoa's formal college statute dates to 1481, though its roots as separate law, medicine, and theology colleges reach back into the 13th century. It became a full first-level university in 1885 and was later classified as a state university under Italy's 1923 education reform — a long, gradual institutional history rather than a single founding moment.
- City
- Genoa
- Type
- Public university
- Official site
- Visit website
- Admissions
- How to apply
About the university
Its main seat is the former Jesuit college building in Genoa's historic Renaissance and Baroque district, in use since 1640, and it's particularly known today for naval architecture, robotics, and maritime studies — helped by close ties to the Italian Institute of Technology, which is headquartered in the city. It's a large, comprehensive public university: around 30,000 students across 168 courses, with satellite teaching centres in Imperia, Savona, and La Spezia.
As with our shorter-form cities, our deepest, most detailed on-the-ground support currently stays in Turin and Milan — we don't yet have the same neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood rent data or a vetted-rooms network here, and we'd rather say so plainly than pad this page with figures we haven't checked.
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, submitted through the university's own UniGeApply portal.
See the Genoa city guide for what living and studying in the city looks like beyond the university itself.
Living in Genoa
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.