What the DSU Scholarship Actually Is
DSU stands for Diritto allo Studio Universitario, which translates roughly as the right to university education. It is not a merit prize or a prestige award. It is Italy's regional system for making sure that students who cannot afford higher education still get a real shot at it.
The University of Milan DSU scholarship combines two things: a sum of money paid directly onto your personal university card, and free access to the university's canteen services throughout the academic year. Both matter. Milan is an expensive city and eating on a student budget there is genuinely difficult without support.
The scholarship is funded jointly by the Lombardy Region and Italy's Ministry of University and Research, and it is awarded annually through a public competition. That means you apply fresh each year and are assessed each time on a combination of your academic progress and your financial situation.
Payments land on the Carta La Statale, which is your personal University of Milan badge. To actually receive your money, you need to activate this card as a Flash Up Studio La Statale prepaid card. Do not skip this step after you are awarded. Students who forget to activate the card end up with scholarship funds sitting inaccessible.
Who Cannot Apply
Before looking at who qualifies, it is worth going through who is clearly excluded because this catches a lot of students off guard.
You cannot apply for the DSU scholarship if:
You are already receiving a similar benefit for the same programme year from another source
You are enrolled part-time or on a shortened career path
You are a repeating student
You already hold an Italian degree at the same level or higher than the programme you are currently enrolled in
You are enrolled in a vocational master's programme or a postgraduate medical school
You are a PhD student who is already receiving a scholarship or research grant
That last point is worth paying attention to. PhD students with funding are out. PhD students without funding may still be eligible, but check the full call for applications document carefully.
Is the UniMi DSU Scholarship Right for You?
Apply if you:
Are regularly enrolled in a degree programme at the University of Milan for the 2026/27 academic year, whether you are an Italian student or an international one
Meet the income and financial requirements. This scholarship is needs-based at its core. Your family's financial situation, including income and assets, is assessed as part of the competition. International students are assessed using a specific procedure for families with income and assets abroad, so download the relevant document from the UniMi website before you start.
Are making satisfactory academic progress. The scholarship has merit requirements alongside the financial ones. Students who are significantly behind on credits tend not to qualify.
Are a full-time student on a standard career path at UniMi
Think carefully before applying if:
You have not yet confirmed your enrolment for 2026/27. The scholarship requires that you be regularly enrolled, and the application window runs from July to September, which overlaps with enrolment periods. Sort your enrolment out first, then apply for the scholarship.
Also, if your family's financial situation is genuinely comfortable, be honest with yourself about whether this is a competition you are likely to win. DSU scholarships go to students who need them. A strong application from a genuinely low-income student will always outrank one from a student applying as an afterthought.
Tips to Strengthen Your Application
1. Get your financial documentation sorted before the portal opens
The income and financial assessment is the heart of this application. For international students especially, documenting your family's financial situation involves a specific process for evaluating income and assets held abroad. UniMi has published a dedicated document on this, and you should read it before you start your application, not halfway through it. Gather your family's income documents, bank statements, and any other financial evidence in advance so that when the Online Helpdesk opens on 10 July, you are not scrambling to collect paperwork.
2. Register on the UniMi portal before the application period opens
You cannot access the Online Helpdesk where the application lives without first being registered on the UniMi portal. As of 2024, registration also requires a SPID digital identity for Italian residents, or the appropriate registration process for international students. Go to the UniMi registration page now, complete the process, and make sure your account is active and working before 10 July. Finding out on 10 July that your portal access is not set up is a problem you could have avoided weeks earlier.
3. Apply early in the window, not in the final week of September
The application window runs for almost three months, from 10 July to 30 September 2026. Every year, a significant number of students leave their DSU application until the last week and run into technical issues, missing documents, or portal problems with no time to fix them. The scholarship does not reward waiting. Apply as soon as you have your documents ready, ideally in July or early August, and give yourself time to address any issues before the deadline closes.
How to Apply
First, make sure you are enrolled or confirmed for enrolment at the University of Milan for the 2026/27 academic year. The scholarship requires regular enrolment and you cannot apply without it.
Click on the apply button below and register if you have not already done so International students should follow the registration path for external users.
Download and read the full Call for Applications for Regional Scholarships 2026/27. Also download the Summary of the Call and the document on financial assessment for students with income and assets abroad if you are an international student. These documents contain the exact income thresholds, merit requirements, and conditions that determine your eligibility.
Gather all required financial documentation for your household. For international students, this means documenting income and assets in your home country using the specific process outlined in UniMi's guidance document.
From 10 July 2026, access the Online Helpdesk and complete your DSU scholarship application. Fill in all fields accurately and upload all required documents.
Submit your application before 30 September 2026. The portal closes at the deadline and late applications are not accepted.
If you are awarded the scholarship, activate your Carta La Statale as a Flash Up Studio La Statale prepaid card to receive your payments. This activation step is mandatory. Without it, your scholarship funds cannot be accessed.
For questions during the process, contact the Scholarships and Grants Office at Via Santa Sofia 9 in Milan, or use the InformaStudenti helpdesk under Fees and Benefits and then Scholarships.
Milan does not have a reputation as a budget-friendly city and it absolutely is not one. Rent, food, transport, and the general cost of living there will hit a student from a developing country harder than most Western European cities outside of London or Zurich. The DSU scholarship exists precisely because Italy recognises that financial barriers should not determine who gets to study at a world-class university.
The University of Milan is one of Italy's largest and most respected institutions, with strong programmes across law, medicine, sciences, humanities, and social sciences. Getting your costs partially covered through the DSU system while studying there is a meaningful financial relief, not just a token gesture.
For African students already enrolled at UniMi or planning to enrol for 2026/27, this scholarship is worth every bit of the effort to apply. The competition is real but it is open to international students and the process, while document-heavy, is manageable if you start early.
The application window opens 10 July. Get your portal registration and financial documents sorted now so you are ready to apply on day one.