28/12/2023
University, there is a boom in American students in Italy: but how much does it cost to study on campus?
Three years ago they stopped coming due to the pandemic. Now they are coming back, or rather they have already returned en masse. They are North American university students who come to follow a study program in our country. In 2023 - says Portia Prebys, secretary and treasurer of the Association of American College and University Programs in Italy (Aacupi) - there will be 37 thousand, ten years ago 22 thousand.
Portia Prebys
She founded the association, founded in 1978. She was Giorgio Bassani's companion for 25 years, Knight of Merit with President Giorgio Napolitano, she lives in Italy and divides her time between Rome where the association is based and Ferrara, where she is curator of the Bassaniani Study Centre. Prebys is the living history of the growth that American programs have had in Italy and a direct witness to the boom in students. And the trend is growing, so much so that - she says - the programs are very full. «In Italy - there are centers in 21 cities: in Rome there are 62 programs, in Tuscany 49 for a total of 147 programs. In 1978 we only had 23." After the United Kingdom, where there are no problems with a new language, Italy is the second European destination country.
The Jcu of Rome
The largest university is John Cabot University in Rome, which this year welcomes 1,750 students, and in addition to semester programs it offers a real degree course. «The JCU of Rome is incorporated into the State of Delaware - explains president Franco Pavoncello - authorized by the Delaware Ministry of Education and regionally accredited by the Middle States Association. We were the first American university in Europe to receive Business School accreditation (Aacsb). But it's not just North Americans who come to study here: we have students from 80 countries. Here they can study business, marketing, political science, international affairs, communication and we also have a small art history department and the first US master's degree in art history. Our degree is equivalent to the US degree from Cimea."
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The first program in Florence in 1931
The first program was opened in Florence by Smith College: it was 1931 «and - recalls Prebys - then it was a university only for women, with an entire academic year in which speaking English was not allowed and with courses only in Italian» . Things have changed. Today the language of instruction is English and not only North Americans, but also Italian students and students from other countries enroll. But who are the Americans who come to study here? And why do they do it? «They are young people - explains Prebys - who aim to have an experience in Italy. 80% are between 20 and 21 years old and the majority (75%) are girls. They mainly study art, history, literature, architecture and fashion. Most have never seen a building built before World War II. We have students majoring in international relations and political science and abroad are eye-openers. They also choose Italy because it is a small country and everything is close by: the sea, the mountains, art. About 80% are of Italian origin, they come to rediscover their origins even if they perhaps don't know precisely from which country their ancestors emigrated. Nobody goes home disappointed: in fact, they never want to return to the United States."
Non-profit university
«The association - explains Prebys - organizes everything, from visas to residence permits to accommodation. Some sleep with Italian families, others on university campuses, but we have dormitories and even some hotels. And thanks to our push in the 80s, a law was enacted to make it possible to transfer the status of non-profit organizations for American universities also to their locations in Italy. And three years ago, residence permits for students were extended from 90 to 150 days." The economic impact that American universities produce is increasing. The added value rose from 544.4 million in 2013 (Irpet data, «2013 Report, Educating In Paradise: The Value of North American University Programs in Italy – Characteristics, Impact and Prospects») to 950 million ten years later. The entire system provides stable work to over 10 thousand people (in addition to teaching staff), including janitors, guardians, administrators and accountants.
The fees
But how much does it cost to study in American universities in Italy? «As a price list - explains Pavoncello - we are around 24 thousand dollars a year, but we offer financial benefits and for Italians we have launched the "Italian Development Initiative" which allows you to obtain a 40% discount". Jcu, founded in 1972 in Rome and with its headquarters in Trastevere since 1990, is also a non-profit organization and its financial sustainability is based not only on revenues but also on the many donations it receives in the United States from Americans, mainly of Italian origin.
In Italia sono 37 mila gli studenti americani, ma anche gli italiani sono ammessi nei corsi di studio, che sono in 21 città: a Roma ci sono 62 programmi, in Toscana 49 per un totale di 147. L’università più grande è la John Cabot University di Roma
