University of Catania

The cheapest region in Italian medicine

On this site's cost presets Catania runs €300 a month for housing and €580 for other living costs — about €8,800 a year on the ten-month study-year basis used here, or €52,800 across six years. Messina, the other Sicilian program, is €8,500 and €51,000.

Those two sit first and joint second of the fifteen Italian locations in this catalog, alongside Ancona. At the other end, Milan is €12,600 a year and €75,600 across six years, which makes Catania roughly €22,800 cheaper to live through than Milan for the same degree.

Because Italian public tuition is a fixed charge plus an income-assessed contribution rather than a published price, that living-cost figure is the number that actually separates these programs. On this site's presets, choosing Sicily is the single largest saving available inside Italian public medicine.

One caveat worth stating: both Sicilian presets carry a Medium source-confidence rating, as do Ancona and Pavia. The four cheapest Italian locations here are all Medium and the more expensive ones tend to be High, so the cheap end of this table is the end most worth verifying locally.

Student-specific, by the university's own reckoning

The most recently published structure is €156 as a mandatory fixed charge — €140 regional tax plus €16 stamp duty — plus the University of Catania contribution calculated by ISEE or equivalent income, or the foreign-student country band. Our record states the final total is student-specific. Those are 2025-2026 figures and are not confirmed for 2026-2027.

That phrasing — student-specific — is the fourth distinct way the Italian universities in this catalog describe the same national framework. Turin names a GDP band, Marche names a country classification for applicants without ISEE, Bari points at its own fee regulation, and Catania simply says the answer depends on you. They are all running the same rules through different local wording, which is why a general guide to Italian tuition cannot answer the question and only the university's own fee notice can.

The national test, and a September answer

Admission is by the national English-language medical admission procedure with Universitaly pre-enrolment for non-EU applicants. The most recent cycle opened 26 August 2025, closed 9 September 2025 at 15:00 CEST, and tested on 17 September 2025 with 60 multiple-choice questions in 100 minutes. For 2026-2027 the official call is due by 31 August 2026 under a Ministry of University and Research notice of 3 July 2026.

The degree is a six-year Laurea Magistrale LM-41 from the School of Medicine. Italian is required for clinical communication even though the degree is taught in English.

Sicily is worth one practical thought beyond price. It is further from the rest of Europe than the northern Italian options, so if you expect to travel home often or to visit family regularly, price those flights before treating the €22,800 as pure saving — the same caution that applies to Bergamo against Milan.