Erasmus+ Grant Amounts for Italy

Which grant group is Italy in?

Erasmus+ grants are banded by the destination country’s cost of living. Italy sits in the middle band — “group 2” — meaning the monthly grant is neither the highest nor the lowest on offer. Recently the study-mobility grant for Italy has run at around €600 a month at most universities, with small variations by your university’s budget allocation and that year’s national agency rules.

The top-ups

A few supplements sit alongside the base grant. Students from disadvantaged groups can receive an additional monthly support, set by income and defined criteria. The “green travel” incentive adds a contribution — plus supported travel days — for choosing low-carbon transport such as train or coach over flying. And on traineeship mobility the monthly grant generally runs slightly higher than for study, since a placement period can carry extra costs. Ask your Erasmus office which top-ups apply to you.

How much does the grant actually cover?

The honest answer: part of your living costs, not all of them. Erasmus+ is not a full scholarship but a contribution in support of mobility — most students top it up from savings or family support. How much it covers depends overwhelmingly on the city: the same €600 lives comfortably in one place and barely covers rent in another.

The reality, city by city

In Milan, rent can swallow the whole grant; in Perugia or Siena, €600 covers halls and meals with room to spare. Research the university’s ESN network and the student halls before drifting onto expensive private listing sites.

How do you plan the budget?

A realistic Erasmus budget covers rent and deposit, food, transport, health insurance and a social life. The grant is usually paid in instalments — part at the start of the term, the remainder at the end — so you need your own funds for the deposit and first rent. Student discounts (transport, museums, the canteen) and halls of residence cut costs substantially. The key to making Erasmus financially sustainable is planning the city choice and the accommodation properly from the start.

OLS and language support

Erasmus+ offers language support alongside the money. The Online Language Support (OLS) platform provides online courses and level assessment in your destination country’s language — for anyone wanting Italian, a free resource before and during the mobility. It isn’t cash in hand, but by saving you the cost of an Italian course and easing daily life, it is an indirect part of the grant. Request your OLS access at the start of the mobility and use the term well.

Insurance and one-off costs

Factor insurance and the one-off costs into the plan. For non-EU students, health insurance and residence formalities can carry extra cost; and the flight or train ticket, the housing deposit and the first month’s household setup all fall outside the grant. Listing these items shows plainly how much of the grant goes to regular living and how much to the initial outlay — for most students, the start-up costs make the first month the hardest.

Topping up the grant

Since the grant doesn’t cover everything, students fill the gap in various ways. Savings and family support are the commonest. Part-time work can be possible in some cases, within the limits of your residence status and duration — though with an Erasmus term so short, work is rarely the priority. Student discounts (the transport card, the canteen, museums) and halls stretch the grant by cutting the outgoings. The most effective “extra income”, most of the time, is a city and accommodation choice that saves money by itself.

Understanding the grant calculation

The Erasmus grant is not one fixed number but the sum of components: the base monthly grant, any disadvantaged-student support, the green-travel contribution and the travel-days support — all of them depending on your university’s budget and that year’s national rules. “How much is the Erasmus grant” therefore has no single answer; it is calculated case by case. Your Erasmus office produces the calculation for your situation — ask for it before applying, and build a realistic expectation. That way the budget is planned properly, with no surprises.

Long term or short?

Your total grant scales with the length of the mobility: a semester or a full year determines the overall support. A longer term means more grant but also more start-up cost and a longer living plan; a short term means less grant but a more manageable budget. Decide not on the grant figure alone but on your academic goal (course equivalence, thesis, placement) and your own readiness.

Plan the grant together with the application

Knowing the grant early lets you build the budget properly — but the amounts are not independent of the application process. Your mobility acceptance follows the application made through your own university and the agreement you sign; the grant is finalised after that, by the host country’s cost group. For the general flow, see our Erasmus+ overview — and plan the grant as an output of the application and agreement process, not an abstract figure.

Frequently asked questions