The University of Milan is a public institution that was founded in 1924. The Italian university’s main campus is situated in a historical complex called Ca’ Granda in the Milan city center. Additional facilities are in the university quarter, or Città Studi, and in a few other locations both in and outside Milan. Tuition costs are the same for Italian and international students but vary based on field of study. A limited amount of university student housing is available for students who come from outside the Milan area.
The institution offers studies in a variety of academic areas: agricultural and food sciences; exercise and sports sciences; humanities; law; linguistic and cultural mediation sciences; medicine; pharmacy; political, economic and social sciences; science and technology; and veterinary medicine. In all, the university offers around 65 bachelor's programs and a similar number of master's programs. The university’s academic calendar is semester-based, though all departments may not have the same start and end dates for their courses. Italian is the primary language of instruction, but the university does offer some English-taught degree programs, most of which are at the graduate level. Examples of programs taught in English include master's programs in economics and finance as well as sustainable development. Research centers at the university include the Centre for Gender & Equality in Research and Science and the Centre of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases. The university also has three botanical gardens, one dating back to 1777, that are used for education and research activities.
The University of Milan, founded in 1924, is a public teaching and research university with around 64,000 students.
The university’s scientific faculties are housed in Città Studi (the City of Studies), the university quarter constructed from 1915 onwards, while humanities faculties are based in buildings in the historic city centre.
The university’s artistic and cultural heritage includes botanical gardens and the former Brera Observatory building commissioned by the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa in the 18th Century.
Among the other historic buildings housing the university are the 15th-century Ca' Granda in the heart of the city centre, and the 18th-century Palazzo Greppi, designed by the architect who built the city’s Scala Theatre, Giuseppe Piermarini.
The university’s collection of books is housed in 47 libraries, while rare and valuable books are collected at the APICE Centre.
The cultural life of the university and city are augmented by the institution’s choir and orchestra, which are internationally recognised.
The institution was established by the merger of the Accademia Scientifico-Letteraria (Scientific-Literary Academy), founded in 1861, and the Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento (Clinical Specialisation Institutes), founded in 1906.
By 1928, the University of Milan already had the fourth-highest number of students of any university in Italy.
Expansion in the 1960s saw two new faculties created, while student numbers increased to 90,000 by the early 1990s.
In 1998, the institution split in two and Milan’s second public institution, the University of Milan-Bicocca, was founded.
The University of Milan now has eight faculties and two schools, offering 138 study programmes. There are also 31 doctoral schools.
The institution was one of the founder members of the League of European Research Universities and remains its only Italian member.
The University of Milan is a public teaching and research university, which - with 8 faculties and 2 schools and a teaching staff of more than 2,000 professors - is distinguished by its wide variety of disciplinary fields. A leading institute in Italy and Europe for scientific productivity, the University of Milan is the largest university in the region, with approximately 64,000 students; it is also an important resource for the community that surrounds it. Milan is, in fact, the capital of Lombardy, one of the most dynamic and international regions in the European Union, a leader in the national economy that stands at the Italian forefront of research and development investments and commitment to technological innovation.
The University of Milan also possesses a remarkable artistic and cultural heritage that includes important historic buildings, inherited and acquired collections, archives, botanical gardens and the old Brera Observatory commissioned by Maria Teresa of Austria. The university’s departments are housed in important historic edifices in the center of Milan and in modern buildings in the area known as CittàStudi (the City of Studies).