The University for Foreigners of Perugia (Università per Stranieri)

What is the University for Foreigners of Perugia?

The Università per Stranieri di Perugia is Italy’s oldest and most respected institution founded specifically to teach Italian language and culture to foreigners — for decades drawing students from all over the world, with a teaching tradition specialised in exactly this. The university runs Italian courses at every level, language-and-culture programmes and academic degrees, and it is the home of the CELI certificate exams. What makes Perugia particular is that it treats Italian not as a language course but as a complete cultural immersion — and its structure, designed for the foreign student, makes the settling-in easy.

The courses and programmes

The university offers programmes to fit the need: intensive Italian courses of varying lengths (monthly, quarterly) across every level from beginner to advanced, and academic programmes in Italian language and culture besides. The courses cover grammar alongside speaking, listening, Italian culture and the practice of daily life — a whole-language approach aimed at making the language genuinely usable. Which programme fits follows your current level and your goal; and studying at Perugia on the MAECI language grant can be the funded way in.

Student life in Perugia

Perugia, at the centre of Umbria, is a classic university city with a historic hilltop centre. Between the University for Foreigners and the established University of Perugia, the city fills with international students — an ideal setting for Italian practice and a social life both. The living is economical, with easy trains to Rome and Florence; the lively student community and the cultural calendar carry the learning past the classroom. Learning Italian in Perugia means advancing fast by immersion, the language in daily use — an environment that makes the learning efficient and enjoyable at once.

The CELI certificate and Perugia

The University for Foreigners of Perugia is the official home of the CELI exams (the Certificato di Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana) — the official certificate measuring your Italian from A1 to C2, accepted broadly by Italian universities and institutions. Studying in Perugia, preparing for and sitting the CELI certifies the level you’ve reached — useful in the university and scholarship applications after. The certificate types are on our CILS/CELI/PLIDA page; Perugia offers the language learning and the certificate as one integrated solution.

Notes for Turkish students

For the Turkish student learning Italian, the University for Foreigners of Perugia is the established, dependable option: the specialised teaching, the international environment and the economical living make ideal ground. Weigh studying there on the MAECI language grant, and certify the level reached with the CELI. For life in Umbria and the DSU provision, the ADiSU Umbria pages help. Perugia offers one of the most effective roads there is to advancing your Italian fast — and to banking the Italian experience itself.

Perugia’s atmosphere

Perugia stands on Umbria’s green hills, its medieval fabric intact — the historic centre, the narrow streets, the squares and the panoramas making a true student town. Host to international students for so long, the city’s society is open to and practised with foreigners, and the settling-in comes easy; famous for its chocolate (Perugina) and its jazz festival, the cultural life stays lively. The atmosphere carries the Italian learning past the classroom: the city itself becomes the learning environment, the language and the culture experienced daily — and the process a pleasure.

The roads after the course

Learning Italian in Perugia is usually a larger goal’s first step. The level reached, certified with the CELI, can meet the language requirement for an Italian bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate; and the Italian experience and the academic network built in Perugia strengthen the applications after. Some students move from the language course to a full degree, in the same city or at another Italian university. Planning the Perugia language stint as the foundation of a long Italian academic journey is what takes its full value.

Practical tips

To take the most from the language learning in Perugia: attend regularly and participate actively; speak Italian outside the classroom wherever you can; join the local student community and its events. Plan the accommodation and the living costs in advance — Perugia is economical, but early planning still eases the way. Learn your target exam’s (CELI) calendar and prepare against it; and arriving on the MAECI language grant, settle its coverage and conditions first. The practical groundwork keeps the Perugia experience efficient and trouble-free alike.

Perugia or Siena?

For learning Italian, Perugia and Siena are Italy’s two most established Stranieri universities — and choosing between them can be hard. Both offer the specialised teaching, the international environment and the economical living; the essential differences are the certificate and the city. Perugia is home to the CELI, Siena to the CILS — the two equally valid. On the cities: Perugia is Umbria’s lively centre, Siena Tuscany’s graceful city of culture. Choose by exam preference, atmosphere and the practicalities (course calendar, accommodation) — both universities are dependable, respected roads into Italian, and either gives a solid education.

A short checklist

• Choose the course fitting your current level
• Weigh the MAECI language-grant option
• Learn the CELI exam calendar and prepare
• Plan the accommodation and living costs in advance
• Keep the Italian practice going outside the classroom

Frequently asked questions