Bocconi: the 2026/27 academic year has been inaugurated

Bocconi’s participation in Me.Mo. – Merit and Social Mobility, the national programme promoted by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and developed in collaboration with the MERITA Network, further strengthens efforts prior to university admission, at a stage when self-selection, drop-out and a perceived distance from university may arise.

Social mobility today also depends on access to new technologies and the ability to use them. Artificial intelligence can greatly expand opportunities for learning, research and work, but it can also create a new divide between those who already have the tools, skills and favourable circumstances, and those who start from a less advantageous position.
This is why Bocconi is working to ensure that AI becomes a skill that is truly accessible to the entire student body. The Strategic Plan provides for the strengthening of technological infrastructure, the integration of artificial intelligence tools into teaching, and the development of widespread skills for expert, critical and responsible use. This approach is reflected in agreements with some of the sector’s leading global players, including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, as well as the adoption of specialised platforms for the legal sector such as Harvey, Legora and Lexroom.

The aim is not simply to make new tools available to students, but to ensure that their use is effectively integrated into learning processes and becomes part of each individual’s skill set. In this sense, access to artificial intelligence is also a matter of social mobility: ensuring that a technology set to have a profound impact on study and work does not become yet another advantage for those who are already in a privileged position.

Social mobility does not end with entry to university, nor does it end with graduation. The transition into the world of work can also continue to be influenced by social background, the networks available, the ability to accept low-paid or unpaid work placements, and the ability to negotiate within organisations.
In his speech, Billari raised the issue of the ‘class ceiling’ – the barriers that can slow down the career progression of those from less privileged backgrounds, even when they have the same qualifications. For businesses and organisations, countering these mechanisms is not merely a matter of fairness: it means making better use of the available human capital and broadening the diversity of experiences and perspectives in decision-making processes.
In an era characterised by longer life spans and ever-faster technological change, social mobility also concerns the ability to continue learning, keeping up to date and forging new career paths. This is where lifelong learning becomes an integral part of equal opportunities: if access to continuing education remains concentrated amongst those who already have greater resources, technological change risks widening rather than reducing inequalities.

In this regard, SDA Bocconi School of Management has allocated 5 million euros annually, since 2022, to scholarships and fee waivers for its Master’s programmes. On average, around 250 participants a year – equivalent to 27 per cent of Master’s students – have benefited from these measures. Also since 2022, €1 million a year has been allocated to promote women’s access to open executive programmes.

From 2027, according to SDA Bocconi’s strategic plan, these initiatives will be further strengthened with the introduction of the new ‘Learning Without Limits’ fund, designed to enable participants and organisations who would otherwise be unable to benefit from advanced training opportunities to access executive programmes. The aim is to extend the principle of accessibility beyond university years, supporting individuals and organisations throughout their entire professional lives.

The inauguration also provided an opportunity to recognise the contribution of Riccardo Taranto, Managing Director and Bocconi alumnus, who will step down in November 2026 after having guided the University’s growth and transformation in recent years. “A university fulfils its mission when a vision is translated into organisational capacity, services, spaces and resources available to students, the faculty and society,” said Taranto. “What matters is building solid institutions, capable of evolving and enabling projects that endure far beyond individual people and the duration of their terms of office.”

It is also within this context that Bocconi’s non-profit status comes into play: the resources generated and raised are reinvested in teaching, research, student support and the University’s development. This same philosophy underpins ‘A Place for the Future’, the fundraising campaign through which Bocconi aims to raise 200 million euros by 2030. Between 2021 and 2025, over 6,700 donors helped to raise 90 million euros. Forty-seven per cent of the donations were allocated to student support, and in the 2025–2026 academic year, 380 students received support thanks to donors.

Finally, the ceremony echoed the message of ‘We Made It’, which marks Bocconi’s 125th anniversary. Not only “we’ve made it”, but “we’ve built it together”: behind every journey of social mobility there are people, families, teachers, institutions, alumni and communities who have helped to make that journey possible. “A university cannot, on its own, rectify all inequalities,” concluded Billari. “But it can – indeed, it must – choose whether to limit itself to selecting talent that is already visible, or to create the conditions for other talent to become visible. This is the commitment with which we are launching the new academic year: to ensure that education is not the confirmation of a destiny, but the beginning of a possibility.”

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