Italy DSU Scholarship for Pakistani Students: How the Regional Grant Works

What is the DSU scholarship in Italy?

DSU stands for diritto allo studio universitario, the right to university study. The DSU scholarship in Italy is the means-tested support each region gives its university students: a grant (borsa di studio) and, depending on the region, a place in a student residence, meals and exemption from university fees. Italian and international students apply in the same call, under the same rules.

Two things surprise Pakistani applicants. In the first year it is based on need, not grades: what counts is your family's income and assets, measured in a set way. And it is regional: you apply to the agency for the region your university is in — not to the Italian embassy, and not through Universitaly.

That makes it one of the most realistic ways for a Pakistani family to afford Italy, and one of the easiest to lose on a technicality. If you are still choosing a country, our comparison of the easiest countries for a student visa sets Italy beside the others.

Which agency runs DSU for your university?

Find the region your university is in, then the body that runs DSU there. In most regions it is a regional agency; in Lombardy and parts of Veneto, the universities run the grant call themselves.

Each one publishes its own call (bando) once a year, often with an English version, and sets its own deadlines, income limits and document rules. Read your agency's call, not a summary of someone else's.

What can a DSU grant cover?

The shape is broadly the same everywhere, though not every region offers every part. The amount depends on your family's income and assets, and on whether you live away from home, which almost every Pakistani student does. Your agency's call sets the figures, and they change every year.

ISEE parificato: the family-income documents from Pakistan

For a student whose family lives in Pakistan, the agency needs your family's income and assets, documented by Pakistani authorities. The agency, or a CAF (an Italian tax assistance centre) it works with, turns them into an “ISEE parificato”, the foreign-income version of Italy's means test. Self-declarations and affidavits are refused.

The year matters. For 2026–27, ER.GO, EDISU and DSU Toscana asked for income in 2025 and assets at 31 December 2025, while DiSCo in Lazio used 2024. ER.GO's 2026–27 call is a good model of what the documents must show, listed below.

You may read that students from “particularly poor countries” need only a letter from the Italian embassy. That rule exists, but Pakistan is not on the 2026–27 list, set by ministerial decree on 24 February 2026, so Pakistani students need the full set. One local trap: Pakistani property papers give areas in marla, kanal or square feet, while the calls ask for square metres, so ask your agency how it wants that shown.

Apostille and translation: making Pakistani documents count

The Hague Apostille Convention has applied to Pakistan since March 2023, and Italy did not object to its joining, so an apostille replaces embassy legalisation between the two. The Embassy of Italy in Islamabad's public notice says that since 18 November 2024 it accepts only Pakistani documents apostilled by the Government of Pakistan. In Pakistan, apostilles are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Then comes translation into Italian by an official translator or the consulate. For 2026–27, EDISU and DSU Toscana wanted documents issued or translated in 2026, with originals sent by post, and ER.GO can ask for paper originals during checks. DiSCo's call still refers to documents issued by Italian diplomatic authorities, so if you are going to Rome, ask DiSCo or its CAF in writing whether apostilled documents are accepted.

Build in time. Getting a certificate from FBR or a bank, then the apostille, then a translation, is hard to squeeze into the fortnight before a deadline. Our guide to degree attestation in Pakistan explains how attestation and the apostille fit together.

How DSU fits with Universitaly and your Italy study visa from Pakistan

This is what catches most Pakistani applicants: the DSU calls close before many students have a visa appointment. For 2026–27 the Embassy allocated appointments in the order universities validated pre-enrolments on Universitaly, and took visa applications until 30 November 2026. The DSU deadlines fell between late July and early September.

So you apply for DSU while the visa is pending, which the agencies allow. ER.GO and DSU Toscana take first-year applications before enrolment, and EDISU lets you mark your visa as applied for and upload it later. Final rankings follow between October and December, so most students show their own or a sponsor's funds for the visa — see our post on the bank statement for a student visa — and our Europe student visa guide covers the rest.

The 2027–28 calls are not out yet. If they follow 2026, they will open between June and late July 2027.

How students lose the DSU scholarship

In the first year the grant is about need; after that it is about credits. Most calls require first-year bachelor's students to earn 20 credits (CFU) by 10 August of the following year for the full grant. DSU Toscana asks master's students for 15, and Politecnico di Milano asks for more. Reach the target by 30 November and, depending on the region, you keep some or all of what was paid; miss it and the grant is revoked and repaid.

Agencies check documents, some with Italy's financial police, the Guardia di Finanza. Under national law a false declaration means losing the benefits and a fine of three times their value. ER.GO's call also says you never need an agency or intermediary to submit your documents, and warns against paying anyone who offers. The other common ways to lose it: