Università degli Studi "Magna Græcia" di Catanzaro
Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro. Photo: Nicholas Gemini, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro (UMG) is a public university in Calabria, autonomous since 1998 and best known for medicine and the health sciences. Its Salvatore Venuta campus at Germaneto, in Catanzaro, groups a School of Medicine and Surgery, a School of Pharmacy and Nutraceuticals and a department of law, economics and sociology. It had 12,038 enrolled students in 2024/25 (ANVUR), up about 10% since 2018/19, and teaching grew out of medicine and law courses first run in Catanzaro in 1979.
Magna Graecia University teaches its degree programmes in Italian, and its 2026/27 degree catalogue does not flag any full programme as taught in English. Its English offer is a list of individual courses in the Department of Law, Economics and Sociology, published on its international students page. If you need a full degree in English, UMG is not the right fit. If you can study in Italian, it offers medicine, dentistry, nursing and other health professions, pharmacy, biotechnology, psychology, law and economics.
Magna Graecia University admits non-EU students living abroad through Italy's national procedure: you pre-enrol on Universitaly for your chosen programme with a school or university qualification valid for entry in Italy. Because teaching is in Italian, you need a solid level of Italian. Many health programmes have limited places and fixed selection rules, set out in each programme's admission notice, and Italian-taught Medicine now starts with an open first semester, introduced nationally for 2025/26. UMG publishes no acceptance rate.
Applying to Magna Graecia University from abroad follows Italy's standard route for Italian-taught degrees: pick a programme, read its admission notice, pre-enrol on Universitaly, then apply for a study visa. UMG publishes little in English, so read each call on its Italian site and write to the Research and International Relations Office at socrates@unicz.it with questions. Start early, because health degrees have limited places and fixed selection dates, and visa appointments take time.
Magna Graecia University charged non-EU students a single contribution of €500 a year in 2025/26, plus the €130 regional tax and €16 stamp duty, with no ISEE needed; students from particularly poor countries paid €150 instead. Other students pay by family income (ISEE): the contribution is zero up to an ISEE of €22,000 for students on track, and reached €2,520 at the top in 2025/26. The 2026/27 fee regulation was published in July 2026, so confirm this year's figures there.
Yes, Magna Graecia University can cost little, but the lowest fees depend on income and progress. Tuition is set by family income (ISEE); students from lower-income families can pay little or nothing beyond the regional tax, and a DSU scholarship winner also gets a tuition waiver. For non-EU students the fee is already low and flat, €500 plus taxes in 2025/26, so the scholarship is the bigger lever. In your control: your ISEE parificato, deadlines and credits. Not in your control: family income and the ranking.
The right-to-study (DSU) scholarship for Magna Graecia University students is run by Fondazione Universitaria UMG, which also manages student housing and the canteen. Awards follow family income and academic merit, and non-EU students apply with an ISEE parificato. In Censis 2026/27 UMG came first among Italy's medium-sized public universities for scholarships. For 2026/27, Calabria's other public universities pay off-site winners €7,171.11 at the full rate; check the Fondazione UMG call for its figures.
Magna Graecia University does not appear in the QS 2027, THE 2026 or ARWU 2026 world tables, which mostly reward large research universities. Censis 2026/27 ranked it last among Italy's medium-sized public universities, with 78.8 points, although it came first in that group for scholarships. ShanghaiRanking listed its Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the 401 to 500 band of its 2025 subject tables. For a health degree, judge the programme, its selection and its clinical training.
Student life at Magna Graecia University centres on the Salvatore Venuta campus at Germaneto, outside the historic centre of Catanzaro, Calabria's regional capital. Housing and canteen services for scholarship students run through Fondazione Universitaria UMG, so apply for them with your DSU application rather than after you arrive. We found no official rent or monthly budget figures for Catanzaro, so compare listings carefully and visit or video-call before you pay any housing deposit.
Magna Graecia University is Calabria's health sciences university. The University of Calabria near Cosenza is larger, with 24,052 students in 2024/25, a residential campus and 11 English-taught master's. Mediterranea University in Reggio Calabria is smaller, with 5,079 students, and grew from architecture, engineering and agriculture. In Censis 2026/27 Unical led Italy's large public universities and Mediterranea came 3rd among small ones. Private universities charge fixed fees, while public tuition follows income.
Magna Graecia University is a good choice if you speak Italian well and want medicine, dentistry, nursing or another health profession, pharmacy or biotechnology at a public university with low fees for non-EU students. It suits you less if you need a degree taught in English, or if world rankings matter to you, since it is not in the main global tables. Expect most information in Italian: you will read calls, fee rules and scholarship notices in Italian, so organised students do best here.
ApplyAZ builds shortlists of 20 to 30 English-taught programmes at public universities, so Magna Graecia University fits your plan only if you are ready to study in Italian. We are independent and take no commissions. We write your CV and tailored SOPs, submit each application and Universitaly pre-enrolment, file your DSU scholarship and prepare your visa file, and a named person owns each stage. Strong, organised Italian speakers can apply alone. see how ApplyAZ works or check your eligibility.
Open a programme for its entry requirements, entrance tests, fees and intake dates.
