University, Lombardy first Italian region for number of students

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Lombardy's system of university education and higher education is the most extensive in Italy, the one that offers the greatest range of services to students and also has the highest number of enrolments in the country. From the 2011-2012 academic year to the 2022-2023 academic year, Lombardy has always ranked first in terms of the number of students enrolled in the 15 universities based in the region, and at least since the 2010-2011 academic year, Lombardy has also ranked first in terms of the number of students enrolled in the Afam (Alta formazione artistica, musicale e coreutica - Artistic, Musical and Choreographic Higher Education) institutes. This picture emerges from the Mur data, processed by the Milan Higher Education Observatory (Mheo) of the University of Milan, an observatory financed through Pnrr funds, which is part of the Ecosystem of Innovation Musa (Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action), in which the Lombardy Region is a partner.

'The Lombardy Region can boast a university system of excellence, the attractiveness of which is well demonstrated by the numbers,' comments Alessandro Fermi, Regional Councillor for Universities, 'but that is not all. Our university system is one of the clearest examples of that 'Lombardy of territories' that I often cite as a model to be pursued: for me it is fundamental that each province should have a university reference with its own specific peculiarities that can be attractive and at the same time offer young people training opportunities without necessarily having to move to Milan. In short, our university system is the most attractive in Italy, in each of its provinces'.

There are 15 universities in Lombardy, 8 of which are state universities, 6 non-state universities and 1 telematic university. In Italy (where there are a total of 98 universities) it is surpassed in number only by Lazio (19), which, however, in recent years has been able to count on 6 telematic universities, in addition to 6 state and 7 non-state institutions. In third place, at a distance, is Campania with 9 universities (6 state, 1 non-state and 2 telematic). Looking at the number of students enrolled, Lombardy comes first with 332,171 students, 17.4% of the total, followed by Lazio with 325,198 (17.03%) and Campania with 253,791 (13.29%). In Lombardy, the growth in the number of university students has been constant (there were 258,734 in 2010-2011) and has affected all study courses. In the 2022-2023 academic year, there are 62,523 students in the artistic, literary and teaching area (they were 47,193 10 years earlier), with a clear predominance of women that remains constant (49,024 women against 13,499 men); in the economic, legal and social area, there are 126,587 students (73,602 women and 52,985 men) from 103,540 10 years earlier; in the health and agro-veterinary area, there are 49,037 (28,670 women and 20,367 men) from 40,011. The situation is reversed for the Stem faculties, where in the last 10 years the number of women has increased but the number of men continues to be almost double: in the academic year 2022-2023 there are 94,024 women enrolled from 67,990 10 years earlier. There are 32,190 women (were 22,601) and 61,834 men (were 45,389).

As far as Afam institutes are concerned, there are 158 in Italy and 26 in Lombardy, which puts it at the top of the ranking with 26, followed by Lazio (19) and in third place by Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, both with 14. Lombardy also ranks first in terms of the number of students enrolled with 20,808, 23.85% of the total in Italy, followed by Lazio with 11,568 (13.26%) and in third place, in this case, Campania with 7,910 (9.07%).

Looking at the origin of the students enrolled in Lombardy, in the 2022/2023 academic year, those enrolled on courses based in Lombardy who have their residence in another region, excluding those resident abroad, number 59,285 in universities and 6,420 in the Afam. Students without Italian citizenship enrolled at university number 26,125 in universities (of which 20,150 with a foreign diploma) and 4,102 in the Afam.