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The Italian government scholarship for the 2026/2027 academic year is not offered and is not paid for study on a three-year bachelor’s program. There are two exceptions: AFAM programs, meaning art, music and dance, and the extension of the “Costruiamo il futuro” scholarship for those who already received it in 2025/2026. The main conclusion for a Kazakhstani family follows from this: a grade 11 graduate entering a regular bachelor’s program does not qualify for Italy’s main state scholarship.
What remains available: regional right-to-education scholarships (borse di studio per il diritto allo studio), which the regional agency awards through a competition based on family income, and individual tuition fee waivers at the level of a specific university.
Data as of 28 July 2026. Every amount below is tied to the academic year named next to it: the terms of Italian grants are revised annually, and a figure without a year is useless.
The short answer: it is a competition, not a discount
No Italian grant is awarded simply on the fact of admission. All of them are distributed by application, by ranking and by published terms, and the decisions are made by universities and grant commissions.
The scale of the program is worth knowing before a family builds a grant into its budget. For the 2026/2027 academic year, the Italian government awarded citizens of Kazakhstan 10 scholarships and placed 3 more candidates on the reserve list: this is the final ranking published by the Italian Embassy in Astana on 13 July 2026. The application window in that cycle lasted 14 days, from 12 to 26 March 2026.
A success rate cannot be derived from this ranking: neither the embassy nor the ministry publishes the number of applications submitted.
What types of support exist
Four different mechanisms, each with its own administrator, its own scope of coverage and its own application window. They are routinely lumped together into the single word “grant,” and that is exactly what inflated expectations are built on.
| Type of support | Who awards it | What it covers | When to apply | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italian government scholarship (MAECI) | Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, selection through the embassy in Astana | 10 800 EUR for 9 months and insurance at MAECI’s expense. Tuition fees not guaranteed | March window: in 2026, from 12 to 26 March | 28 July 2026 |
| Regional right-to-education scholarship | The regional DSU agency at the place of study | At least 7 171,11 EUR in 2026/2027 for a student living away from the place of study | Each region has its own window and its own ranking | 28 July 2026 |
| Invest Your Talent in Italy | MAECI and partner universities | Only selected English-taught master’s programs | The program website states: the next intake opens in 2027 | 28 July 2026 |
| Tuition fee waiver | A specific university | Part of the fees. The regional tax is paid in any case | Under the university’s admission rules | 28 July 2026 |
Sources: the MAECI bando for the 2026/2027 academic year, the final ranking for Kazakhstan, MUR decree n. 175 of 10 February 2026 and the official Invest Your Talent in Italy website.
The Italian government scholarship: who can get it
The program works from the master’s level upwards, plus separately for creative AFAM programs and for Italian language courses. The bando for 2026/2027 directly lists what the scholarship is not paid for: three-year bachelor’s programs except AFAM, single-cycle master’s programs, level I and II master courses, specialization programs, one-year university courses and individual courses.
What the scholarship gives if the student qualifies:
- A total of 10 800 EUR for 9 months, in three instalments, with a possible extension.
- A fixed period from 1 November 2026 to 31 July 2027, with no carry-over to the next academic year.
- A separate option for Italian language courses: 3 months and 3 600 EUR in a single payment, with an Italian level of at least A2.
- Medical insurance for the scholarship period is paid by MAECI.
What the scholarship does not do: it does not cancel tuition fees. The bando states this without hedging: “Regional taxes are in any case payable and are borne by the student.” Nor does it remove the requirement of 12 years of prior education: that is a separate condition of access to an Italian bachelor’s program, covered on the page admission to universities in Italy.
Regional scholarships: what the ministerial decree set
The minimum amounts of regional scholarships for the 2026/2027 academic year are set by MUR decree n. 175 of 10 February 2026. This is a national minimum, not a promised sum: the specific amount, deadlines, ranking and quota are set by the regional agency.
| Student category | Minimum for 2026/2027 |
|---|---|
| Living away from the place of study (fuori sede) | 7 171,11 EUR |
| Commuting to study (pendolari) | 4 190,71 EUR |
| Living at the place of study (in sede) | 2 890,16 EUR |
Access is limited by family income and assets. MUR decree n. 176 of the same date sets for the 2026/2027 academic year a maximum ISEE of 28 339,88 EUR and a maximum ISPE of 61 608,48 EUR. A family whose figures are above the threshold does not enter the competition regardless of the student’s grades.
The application deadline for a specific region is deliberately not given here: it is published in that region’s current bando and changes from year to year.
Family income documents: what you will have to collect
A family that does not live in Italy cannot simply declare its income. To enter the competition you need an ISEE parificato, an equalized calculation of income and assets, and for it you need income and asset documents from Kazakhstan with an apostille and translation.
The conclusion for the calendar: the set is collected in parallel with admission, not after it, because the apostille on Kazakhstani documents is a separate procedure with its own timeline. How it works is covered in apostille and sworn translation. The exact list of documents is set by the specific region’s competition.
A grant application does not replace proof of funds for the visa
A submitted scholarship application, and even recognition of the student as eligible, is not a document of financial means. This is how the checklist of the Italian Embassy in Astana puts it: the student proves means of subsistence separately, and beyond them money for the return journey and proof of suitable housing are required.
Insurance also remains a family expense, and it is larger than expected. Voluntary registration with the National Health Service (SSN) for the holder of a study residence permit costs at least 700 EUR per calendar year. It is issued only for a full calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December, with no reduced payment for a shorter period. Paying for two calendar years at once is allowed, and for an academic year starting in September this is the usual scenario.
Here lies a trap more costly than the amount itself: the residence permit is not issued for longer than the insurance period. A cheap policy bought for the visa application does not replace SSN registration and shortens the permit. Insurance selection goes through the insurance service.
Why the terms change every year
Three documents with three different update cycles, and each can change this page.
| Document | Cycle | Last update |
|---|---|---|
| MAECI bando | Annually, with an application window of about two weeks | 12 March 2026, for 2026/2027 |
| MUR decrees on minimums and ISEE thresholds | Annually, around February | n. 175 and n. 176 of 10 February 2026 |
| MUR procedures for international students | Every two years | For the 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 academic years |
Hence the rule for reading any article about Italian grants, including this one: if an amount has no academic year named next to it, the amount cannot be used. This page is reviewed in March, when the new bando is published.
What EEC does and what it does not promise
EEC’s position on grants is stated on the site in one line, and it does not change: grants are possible, but they cannot be sold as a guarantee. EEC helps with grant and scholarship applications, collects documents and tracks the requirements. The decision rests with the university or the grant commission.
In practice this means two things. EEC checks whether the student meets the terms of a specific program before the family builds its budget around a grant. And EEC does not name a probability of success: the number of applications for the Kazakhstani track is not published. What is included in support for Italy is described on the Italy page.