Under the law, they are considered universities :
higher education institutions ;
high doctoral training institutes .
state universities ;
non-state universities ;
telematic universities ;
university high schools .
Doctoral schools and high schools by statute , do not hold degree courses but only doctoral and / or masters
Autonomy
The reasons why, starting from the unification of Italy , high education was considered a fundamental task of the State are first of all ideological, strictly connected to political philosophies, which in most of the 150 years of Italian history . The centralist and statist character of the Italian university system was reaffirmed in the Fascist period , university autonomy was sanctioned only in the second post-war period, firstly with the recognition to universities of statutory and regulatory autonomy through the law of 9 May 1989, n. 168, and subsequently with the recognition of didactic autonomy pursuant to the law of 19 November 1990, n. 341 and finally with further refinement of the
The teaching autonomy introduced allows individual universities and collegiate bodies to establish:
the denomination and the educational objectives characterizing the study courses;
Define criteria for access to study courses (free access, access to a programmed number, assessment of initial binding or orientation skills) in the context of compliance with the right to study in Italy ;
the type of training activities and the corresponding number of university training credits ;
the identification of alternative forms of teaching, such as those at a distance;
the way in which curricular activities of a professional nature are carried out (such as laboratory activities, internal training, stages );
the methods of the final examination to obtain the degree .
Use of the title
The denomination "university", "university institute", "university educational institution", "polytechnic" and "university" is reserved, according to article 10, first paragraph, of the decree law 1 October 1973, n. 580 - converted into law of 30 November 1973, no. 766 - to recognized state and non-state universities.
Some institutions, however, although they can issue academic titles with legal value, adopt similar names; among the various institutions that have opted for this choice, there is the Valdese Faculty of Theology , authorized to issue theological degrees directly by agreement between the Italian Republic and the Waldensian Evangelical Church . The latter, as an institution devoted exclusively to theological studies, has opted to maintain the name of "faculty. There is also the case of the telematic university" Italian University Line " who used the term "university", which although it is the exact English translation of "university", given the taxability of the list specified in DL 580/1973, is to be considered in the free availability of any subject.
With the law of 21 December 1999, n. 508 also the Academies of Fine Arts , the National Academy of Dance , the National Academy of Dramatic Art , the Higher Institutes for Art Industries (ISIA), the Conservatories of Music and the Equated Musical Institutes , have moved into the university sector of ' higher education in art, music and dance(AFAM), according to the principle of Article 33 of the Italian Constitution. The qualifications awarded by the aforementioned institutions of high culture are called "academic diplomas" and are equivalent for the purposes of teaching and public competitions to the degrees referred to in the decree of the Minister of University and Scientific and Technological Research 3 November 1999 n. 509 and the degrees referred to in the stability law for the year 2013.