Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Cattolica International

Application procedure

The following procedure refers to Academic Year 2024-2025 and can be taken as a reference for Academic Year 2025-2026. Updates will be posted starting from January 2025. 
Admission to the programme is subject to the passing of an Entrance Exam.


In order to be admitted to the Exam, both EU and non-EU applicants must comply with the following procedure:

 

STEP 1. Click on the button “APPLY NOW / ACCESS THE ONLINE APPLICATION PORTAL” to start a new application

When creating a new account, after typing all the required personal information and then submitting your registration, you will receive a confirmation email from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore <registration.dashboard@unicattolica.it>. 


Simply follow the instructions in the email. 

If you have not received an email, please check the spam folder. 
If you still have not received it, please contact us at international.inquiry@unicatt.it.
 

Create your password, start your application and answer the questions.


Completion of the application form will take about 30 minutes on average, if all the required documents are ready to be uploaded.

You do not have to complete the application in one session; you can save the progress of a partially completed application form by clicking on “Save and continue” (at the bottom of each stage of the application). 

You can log back into your application anytime and carry on from where you left off to finish it.

While filling out the application form, you will be asked to upload the following documents:
  • Passport (if you have more than one upload all of them) 
  • If available, Italian fiscal code 
  • CV
  • High school transcript (second to last year and last year/current year transcript); if already obtained, high school diploma. 
  • Official English language certificate (if already available). 

Note: If you want to be considered for the scholarship offered by the Province of Bolzano (hyperlink), provide two language certificates attesting a B2 level of proficiency both in Italian and German. For more information, please check the Tuition fees and scholarships section.


Furthermore, depending on the information that you provide in the application form, you may be asked to submit additional paperwork. Please make sure to carefully follow all the on-screen instructions, to understand exactly what to upload and where.

Depending on both the Italian legislation and the regulations of the respective country of origin, applicants with less than 12 years of global schooling need to submit either: 

  • an official certifying document of “Academic Eligibility”; or 
  • a certification of any post-high school courses, with a corresponding transcript and documentation describing the formative content of such courses. 

For further info, refer to the Admission guidelines.

Note that we have two applicant pools. 
You will need to understand how to apply based on your citizenship and residency status:

  • EU pool: Italian and EU citizens residing anywhere and non-EU citizens who are already residing in Italy legally (with a “permesso di soggiorno”/ permit of stay);
  • NON-EU pool: non-EU citizens living outside of Italy

Students, who are unsure which group they belong to, can refer to this document for assistance: Which pool of candidates do you belong to

All documents must be uploaded in a legible format, preferably in pdf format and with a maximum size of 5MB.

Always upload the original documents as issued directly by the high school: if they are not officially issued in English or Italian, please provide their official translation together with the originals.

The application deadline is on 24 April 2024 for EU citizens and all candidates legally residing in Italy and non-EU citizens residing outside of Italy. 
  • Click on “Save and review application”
  • Once you have reviewed the application, select “Save & Pay”
  • Choose “Pay Online” as payment method and click on “Buy now” to be directed to the PayPal website, where you can pay the application fee by using a PayPal account or a credit card.

If you decide to pay the €200 (non-refundable) application fee in another moment, you can log back into your application and finalise the payment. 
Your application is pending until the fee has been paid.

Check here if PayPal operates in your country. Should it not be available, please contact us at international.inquiry@unicatt.it to receive instructions to pay by credit card on an alternative payment circuit. 

The registration of the payment via PayPal takes a few minutes.

After completing the payment of the application fee on the PayPal website, click on “Return to merchant website” to finalise the submission of your application.

Once the payment is registered, remember to access back into the Online Application Portal and click on “SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION”.

To finalise your application, leave your electronic signature and click on “Verify and submit”.

Once the procedure is complete, the following message will appear: 
Thank you for submitting your application!

Only at this point, upon perform this final step your application on the Online Application Portal will be considered 100% complete. 

Please note that any incomplete or inaccurate application may cause a delay in the assessment.

Your application will not be reviewed until the payment is received and your application is successfully submitted.

After submission, the Università Cattolica International Admissions Team will share with applicants the link to an online simulator to prepare for the Entrance Exam. 


In the meantime, the International Admissions Team will evaluate the eligibility of each applicant’s high school studies as per the terms and regulations set by the Italian law, based on the data and documents provided.

Once this individual evaluation is complete, candidates deemed eligible will be invited to take the Entrance Exam.

Eligible candidates will be invited to take the entrance exam.

Take the Entrance Exam according to the information shared by Università Cattolica Admissions Office.
  • 18 May 2024: EU citizens and ALL candidates legally residing in Italy
  • 18 May 2024: NON-EU citizens living outside of Italy
The results of the Entrance Exam will be available starting from:
  • 23 May 2024 for the EU ranking
  • 28 May 2024 for the non-EU ranking

The results of the competition will be released publicly and each candidate will then also receive their individual score privately. 

For both final rankings, in case of a tie the youngest candidate will prevail.

Admitted candidates will be asked to pay the first University fee instalment of €4,000 to secure their place in the programme no later than 5 June 2024. 

The aforementioned amount will be deducted from the annual tuition fee for the academic year 2024/25.

Should the admitted candidates not pay the deposit by the deadline, their offer will be considered declined and vacant places will be made available to other candidates in the respective EU or non-EU ranking.