DSU Scholarship Italy 2026-27: Eligibility, Benefits, ISEE & How to Apply

Updated 6 October 2026. Every amount, limit and date below was checked against each body's official 2026/27 call on 28 September 2026. INR figures use the ECB reference rate of 25 September 2026 (1 EUR = 109.2605 INR).

In short

• The DSU scholarship (diritto allo studio universitario) is Italy's need-based grant for university students. Students from India apply on the same income rules as Italian students.
• There is no national application. Each region, and in Lombardy and Veneto some universities, runs its own call with its own income limits, amounts and deadlines. We track 16 of these bodies.
• For 2026/27 a student living away from home receives at least 7,171.11 EUR a year (about ₹7.84 lakh) in cash and services. The top band reaches 8,246.78 EUR (about ₹9.01 lakh) in several regions.
• The family must be under two national ceilings: an ISEE of 28,339.88 EUR and an ISPE of 61,608.48 EUR. Many regions set lower limits, down to 23,000 EUR in Palermo.
• Winners often study tuition-free, get canteen meals and can get a residence bed. They keep the grant by earning about 20 credits by 10 August of the first year.
• The 2026/27 application windows have closed. The 2027/28 calls are expected from June 2027, and family documents take months, so planning starts now.

Check your eligibility first. If you are eligible, you book a one-to-one consultation with one of our Italy experts, and from there we take care of everything.

How this guide works. It follows the order in which a student meets each decision, in 11 steps. Each step links to an in-depth guide in our DSU series.

1. Can students from India get it?
2. What are the income limits?
3. Which body covers my university?
4. How much does it pay?
5. How is my family's income assessed?
6. Which documents are needed?
7. How and when do I apply?
8. Where will I live, and does it change the grant?
9. What happens after I apply?
10. How do I keep the grant?
11. How do I prepare for 2027/28?

What is the DSU scholarship in Italy?

The DSU scholarship is the grant Italy pays under the right to university study, set out in Legislative Decree 68 of 2012. It is need-based, not merit-based, in the first year: the family's income and assets decide who qualifies and how much they receive. The Ministry of University and Research (MUR) sets the national minimum amounts and income ceilings each year, and regional bodies such as DiSCo Lazio, ER.GO and DSU Toscana run the calls, rank the applicants and pay the money.

The grant is a package. Depending on the body, it combines a cash grant, free or cheap canteen meals, a bed in a student residence and a full or partial exemption from university fees. Some bodies deduct the value of the bed and meals from the cash, others add them on top, which is why two grants with the same headline figure can leave very different amounts in your account.

Step 1: Can students from India get the DSU scholarship?

Yes. Students from India and other non-EU countries can apply to the body that covers their university, on the same financial and academic rules as Italian students. You must be enrolled, or be enrolling, at a university the body covers, and your family's income and assets must be under the call's ISEE and ISPE limits.

Because an Indian family has no Italian tax record, its economic situation is measured from documents issued in India. In most calls this becomes an ISEE parificato, the equivalent of the Italian ISEE for families abroad. The University of Milan is the exception: its 2026/27 call places families in countries like India in band 1 without an ISEE (art. 5.4).

Students whose family lives abroad are normally assessed as fuori sede (living away from home), which is the highest rate. Most bodies ask you to prove it with a registered lease in the university city or a residence bed. Without that proof some bodies pay the lower commuter rate, so the lease matters as much as the application.

Step 2: What are the income limits for the DSU scholarship?

Two indicators decide eligibility. The ISEE measures the family's income plus 20% of its assets, adjusted for family size. The ISPE measures assets alone, such as property and bank balances, again adjusted for family size. You must be under both.

MUR Directorial Decree 176 of 2026 sets the national ceilings for 2026/27 at an ISEE of 28,339.88 EUR (about ₹30.96 lakh) and an ISPE of 61,608.48 EUR (about ₹67.31 lakh). Regions may set lower limits. Lazio, Umbria and Cagliari use the full ceiling; Palermo's limit is 23,000 EUR and Marche's 24,000 EUR. The lower your ISEE, the higher your band and the larger your grant.

Step 3: Which body runs the DSU scholarship for my university?

The body depends on where your university is, not where you live. Most regions have one agency for every university in the region; the University of Milan, Politecnico di Milano and the University of Padua run their own calls. This table shows the 16 bodies we track, with the top yearly grant for a student living away from home and the 2026/27 ISEE limit. Each name opens a full guide to that body.

Politecnico di Milano's amounts were still pending Lombardy's decision when we checked; Regione Lombardia announced an ISEE limit of 26,887.93 EUR on 17 June 2026. For application windows and first-year payment dates of every body, see our DSU deadlines 2026/27 page, and to compare all bodies side by side, see DSU scholarship: every regional body.

Step 4: How much does the DSU scholarship pay in 2026/27?

MUR Directorial Decree 175 of 10 February 2026 sets the national minimum yearly grant for 2026/27. Bodies may pay more, and many add 15% for the lowest-income families. The three rates depend on where you live while you study.

What reaches your bank account depends on the body. ALiSEO Liguria pays a fuori sede student in the top band 7,172 EUR gross, but withholds the bed (2,600 EUR) and meals (1,165 EUR), leaving 3,407 EUR in cash. DSU Toscana pays 3,338 EUR in cash and adds a residence bed and two meals a day on top, without deducting them. Read each body's guide below before you compare figures.

Does the DSU scholarship make university tuition-free?

For many students, yes. Most bodies, or the universities they work with, exempt DSU winners and eligible students from university fees, so study can be tuition-free for eligible students. ER.GO gives a full exemption from university contributions and refunds the regional tax; ADISURC Campania refunds fees already paid; the University of Padua applies the exemption through its separate fees call. The rules differ: the University of Milan exempts the second fee instalment, and ERDIS Marche's call sets no tuition exemption of its own.

At ER.GO, for example, the exemption falls away if the grant is revoked because the credits were not reached by 30 November 2027.

Step 5: What is the ISEE parificato, and who calculates it?

The ISEE parificato (also written ISEEU or ISEEUP) is the ISEE calculated for a family whose income and assets are abroad. Who calculates it is one of the biggest differences between the calls, and using the wrong route can mean exclusion. Some bodies accept it only from their own partner CAF (tax assistance centre); others assess the family documents themselves.

Our ISEE parificato guide lists the family documents and the deadline at every body.

Step 6: Which documents do Indian families need for DSU?

The exact list depends on the body and the CAF, but an Indian family usually needs the same core set. Each document must cover the income year the call names, be issued by the competent Indian authority and be legalised or apostilled, then translated into Italian where the body asks for it.

• A family composition certificate listing every member of the household.
• Income of every adult family member for the income year: salary certificates, income tax returns or a certificate that a member had no income.
• Property: houses and land owned in India, with their surface area in square metres. Chieti-Pescara, for example, values buildings at 500 EUR per square metre.
• Bank and financial assets held on 31 December of the income year.
• The student's passport and, once in Italy, the residence permit or its receipt and a codice fiscale.

Legalisation rules for Indian documents are covered in our apostille and E-Sanad guide, and the tax code in codice fiscale for students.

Step 7: How and when do you apply for the DSU scholarship?

1. Choose your universities. Your university decides your body, its limits and its deadlines, so the DSU plan starts with the shortlist.
2. Collect the family documents early. Indian certificates, apostille and translation can take weeks to months.
3. Apply online in the body's window. In 2026/27 the windows ran from 5 June (ERSU Palermo) to 30 September (University of Milan and University of Padua). Many close before admission is confirmed, and calls such as DiSCo Lazio's accept enrolment months later (by 10 February 2027 for 2026/27).
4. Get the ISEE parificato by the right route and deliver the originals by the body's foreign-documents deadline.
5. Follow the rankings. A provisional ranking, a short appeal window, then a definitive ranking.
6. Enrol, open an account and register your lease. Several bodies pay only to an IBAN in your own name, and most need proof that you live away from home.
7. Earn the credits. About 20 credits by 10 August of the first year release the second half of the grant.

What happens after you apply, body by body, is in our guide to DSU rankings, payment dates and the credit rule.

Which 2026/27 DSU steps are still open in October 2026?

First applications for 2026/27 have closed at all 16 bodies, but several later steps are still open for students who applied. These were the dates in each call when we checked:

• Politecnico di Milano: fuori sede request by 9 October 2026.
• EDISU Piemonte: visa upload until 19 October 2026.
• ALiSEO Liguria: ISEE parificato by 19 October 2026 to avoid suspension, 31 December 2026 at the latest.
• ERDIS Marche: additions until 21 October 2026, within residual funds only.
• ADiSU Umbria: foreign family documents until 30 October 2026, lease upload until 6 November 2026.
• ER.GO: domicile self-certification until 3 November 2026.
• ADSU Chieti-Pescara: original family documents and lease by 13 November 2026.
• ERSU Palermo: ISEE parificato and residence permit or receipt by 14:00 on 30 November 2026.
• ERSU Catania: regularisation of the scholarship application by 14:00 on 30 November 2026.
• DiSCo Lazio: ISEEUP at a DiSCo-agreed CAF by 10 December 2026.
• ADISURC Campania: ISEEUP by 31 March 2027; payment is suspended until it arrives.

Step 8: Where will you live, and how does it change your DSU grant?

Where you live decides your rate. A student from India is normally fuori sede (living away from home), the highest rate, but most bodies pay it only once you prove paid accommodation near the university: a lease registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate for at least 10 months, or a bed in one of their residences. DiSCo Lazio and DSU Toscana are the exceptions and need no lease. Late or missing proof can drop the grant to a lower rate, usually about 3,000 EUR a year less, and more where a body falls back to the in sede rate.

A residence bed usually has no rent but its value is deducted from the cash: 2,700 EUR at EDISU Piemonte and 2,821 EUR at ERDIS Marche, while DSU Toscana adds the bed on top. Our guides to fuori sede status and lease rules and to DSU housing and residence beds compare all 16 bodies.

Step 9: What happens after you apply for the DSU scholarship?

The body checks the family documents, publishes a provisional ranking, opens a short appeal window and then a definitive ranking. Being idoneo (eligible) is not always the same as being funded, because some calls pay grants down the ranking until the money runs out. For most first-years the first payment arrives between 10 November and 31 December, once you are enrolled and have an account in your own name. Two exceptions matter for students from India: ALiSEO Liguria pays no cash in 2026, and ERDIS Marche pays non-EU first-years only after the credits unless the family gives a surety bond.

Ranking dates, appeals and first payment dates for every body are in our guide to DSU rankings and payment dates.

Step 10: What do you have to do to keep the DSU scholarship?

In the first year the grant is paid in parts, and the second part depends on exams passed. Most bodies ask for 20 credits by 10 August 2027. Some ask for more: the University of Milan asks 35 credits for Bachelor's students, Politecnico di Milano 35 or 40, and ER.GO 25 credits for Bachelor's or 30 for Master's, plus 9 by 28 February 2027. DSU Toscana asks 15 for Master's students. ERSU Palermo and ERSU Catania ask 15 credits by 10 August and 20 in total by 30 November 2027.

30 November 2027 is the last date almost everywhere: below the body's minimum by then, which is 20 credits at most bodies, the grant is revoked and the cash and services received must be repaid. From the second year you apply again, and the credits required rise with each year of the course.

Our guide to DSU credits sets out every body's rule and what happens if you fall short.

Step 11: When will the 2027/28 DSU calls open?

The 2027/28 calls have not been published. If the bodies follow the 2026/27 pattern, the calls will appear between late May and July 2027, with windows running from June to September 2027. The national amounts and ISEE ceilings for 2027/28 come by MUR decree; for 2026/27 they were set in February 2026.

The family documents are the slow part. The income year will most likely be 2025 or 2026 depending on the body, so families planning for September 2027 should start gathering income, property and bank certificates in early 2027, and have them apostilled before the calls open. Our DSU 2027/28 preparation guide gives the month-by-month plan.

Does a DSU scholarship count as proof of funds for the visa?

The Italian study visa asks for proof of at least 10,179.85 EUR a year for 2026/27. Under the ministry circular, applying for DSU or meeting its requirements does not count on its own: only an explicit scholarship certificate does. Our guide to Italy student visa proof of funds explains how the offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru check the funds.

Which mistakes cost students the DSU scholarship?

• The wrong CAF. Politecnico di Milano, the University of Padua, EDISU Piemonte, ALiSEO Liguria, ERSU Catania and DiSCo Lazio accept the ISEE parificato only from their own partner, affiliated or agreed CAF. Any other CAF means exclusion.
• Late or incomplete originals. Several bodies need the legalised originals by post by a fixed date, and a late arrival moves you to a later ranking or out of it.
• The wrong body. Applying to the region where you will live instead of the body that covers your university.
• No registered lease. Without proof of living away from home, some bodies pay the commuter rate.
• A bank account in someone else's name. Several bodies pay only to an IBAN in the student's own name.
• Missing the credits. Under 20 credits by 30 November of the first year means repaying what you received.

The ApplyAZ DSU guide series

Each guide answers one part of the DSU scholarship in depth. Read them in order, or jump to the step you are on.

1. DSU scholarship in Italy: the complete guide (you are here)
2. Every DSU regional body compared, with a guide to each
3. ISEE parificato: family documents for DSU
4. DSU deadlines and payment dates by region
5. Fuori sede status: the lease rules that decide your rate
6. DSU housing: residence beds, costs and rent contributions
7. After you apply: rankings, appeals and first payments
8. DSU credits: how many you need to keep the grant
9. DSU 2027/28: when the calls open and how to prepare

How ApplyAZ helps with the DSU scholarship

ApplyAZ has operations across all Italian regions, because each region sets its own regulations and deadlines and they change every year. For every eligible student we shortlist about 20 programmes, handle the admission applications, work so that study can be tuition-free for eligible students, prepare the DSU application for each body on the shortlist and help the family produce the right documents in the right format at the right time.

Check your eligibility first. If you are eligible, you book a private consultation with an Italy expert, where you can bring your parents and ask anything. After the consultation you receive your personal Italy Roadmap, with every step ahead of you and when to do it.

Frequently asked questions

Can students from India apply for the DSU scholarship in Italy?

Yes. Students from India apply to the body that covers their university on the same income and academic rules as Italian students. The family's income and assets are measured from Indian documents, usually through an ISEE parificato.

How much is the DSU scholarship in 2026/27?

The national minimum for a student living away from home is 7,171.11 EUR a year, about 7.84 lakh rupees, under MUR Directorial Decree 175 of 2026. Several bodies pay up to 8,246.78 EUR to the lowest-income families, partly as a bed and meals.

What is the income limit for the DSU scholarship?

The national ceilings for 2026/27 are an ISEE of 28,339.88 EUR and an ISPE of 61,608.48 EUR. Regions can set lower limits, from 23,000 EUR at ERSU Palermo to the full ceiling in Lazio, Umbria and Cagliari.

Is the DSU scholarship merit-based?

Not in the first year. First-year grants depend on family income and assets. From the second year, and to keep the first-year grant, you must also earn a minimum number of credits, usually 20 by 10 August of the first year.

Can I apply for DSU before my admission is confirmed?

In several calls, yes. Many windows close in July or August, before admission and enrolment are complete, and calls such as DiSCo Lazio's accepted enrolment until 10 February 2027 for 2026/27. Check your body's call for its exact rule.

Is accommodation included in the DSU scholarship?

Not automatically. Many bodies offer a residence bed to fuori sede winners who request one, often with its value deducted from the cash. Beds are limited and some bodies run a separate housing ranking or call.

When will the DSU 2027/28 applications open?

The 2027/28 calls are not out yet. Based on 2026/27, expect them between late May and July 2027, with windows from June to September 2027. Start the family documents in early 2027.

Do I have to repay the DSU scholarship?

Only if you do not meet the credit requirement. If you have fewer than 20 credits by 30 November of your first year, most bodies revoke the grant and ask you to repay the cash and the value of the services received.

Does a DSU scholarship count as proof of funds for the Italian study visa?

Not on its own. The ministry circular for 2026/27 and 2027/28 says that, without an explicit scholarship certificate, applying for a regional DSU scholarship or meeting its requirements cannot be taken into account. The visa file needs at least 10,179.85 EUR a year from lawful, traceable sources.

Can ApplyAZ handle my DSU application for me?

For eligible students, yes for the work: we match the university to its body, prepare the family documents and the application with you and track every date. Calls that need your own credentials are sent from your account, and the body decides the grant. Check your eligibility first. If you are eligible, you book a one to one consultation with one of our Italy experts, and from there we take care of everything.

Sources

• MUR, Directorial Decree 175 of 10 February 2026, minimum DSU grants for 2026/27.
• MUR, Directorial Decree 176 of 10 February 2026, ISEE and ISPE ceilings for 2026/27.
• Legislative Decree 68 of 29 March 2012, right to university study.
• EDISU Piemonte, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• University of Milan, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• Politecnico di Milano, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• University of Padua, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ALiSEO Liguria, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ER.GO Emilia-Romagna, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• DSU Toscana, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ADiSU Umbria, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ERDIS Marche, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• DiSCo Lazio, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ADSU Chieti-Pescara, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ADISURC Campania, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ADISU Puglia, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ERSU Palermo, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ERSU Catania, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.
• ERSU Cagliari, 2026/27 call, checked 28 September 2026.