Italy needs to make higher education more accessible, attract international talent and strengthen the path from research to innovation, according to Politecnico di Milano rector Donatella Sciuto. She argues that social mobility should be part of how universities define excellence, particularly as the country faces a declining number of young people.
The share of Italians aged 25 to 34 with tertiary education was 31.6% in 2024, compared with 44.1% across the European Union, Sciuto notes. Increasing university enrolment alone will not address the gap if students cannot afford to study or are held back by their family or regional circumstances.
Scholarships, fee exemptions and student services remain important, but Sciuto says affordable housing in major cities is also part of access to education. Politecnico di Milano invests in student residences and support, she says, while stressing that an individual university cannot resolve a city-wide problem. Housing, transport and services require shared responsibility from universities, public authorities and private organisations.
Sciuto also calls on public universities to assess whether they help reduce the disadvantages students bring with them, including by identifying the risk of dropping out early. The goal, she says, should not be only to attract top students, but also to enable talented people with fewer resources to succeed.
On international mobility, Sciuto says students should be able to leave Italy to study or conduct research, while the country works to make returning and arriving equally attractive. Politecnico has almost 10,000 international students among its roughly 49,000 students. About 60% of its international graduates remain in Italy for work one year after graduation.
Keeping that talent, however, depends on more than universities. Sciuto points to career prospects, pay, services, administrative procedures and the possibility of building a life in Italy as factors that shape whether international graduates stay.
She also urges Italy to build on research programmes and partnerships established through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Research becomes innovation not simply when it produces a patent, she says, but when universities and companies maintain lasting relationships and researchers can work across laboratories and businesses. The aim is to turn knowledge into technology, companies, investment and skilled employment.
Sciuto says the next phase should move from a focus on individual projects to sustained support for institutions, with clear goals and results. In a country with fewer young people, she argues, losing talent carries an increasing cost.
Sources: Il Sole 24 Ore Italia.