This chapter describes the segment of the Italian education and training system that follows the completion of upper secondary education and that covers a set of different higher education systems:

• the higher university education, that includes universities and other equivalent institutions (Formazione superiore di tipo Universitario ed equivalente), 
• the Higher education for the fine arts, music, and dance (Alta formazione artistica, musicale e coreutica - AFAM),
• the Higher technological tertiary education (Sistema terziario di istruzione tecnologica superiore – ITS Academy).

Universities are the primary seat of free research and free education within the framework of their respective regulations and are a place of learning and critical elaboration of knowledge; they operate, combining research and teaching in an organic manner, for the cultural, civil and economic progress of the country (legge 240/2010). 

The institutes belonging to the higher university education system are:

• State universities and equivalent university institutes under special regulation,
• non-State recognised universities,
• private online universities,
• higher schools for language mediators and specialisation institutes for psychotherapists.

AFAM institutions carry out production and research activities in the artistic field, in particular the fine arts, music, choreography, drama and design, in order to promote the achievement of educational objectives and the pursuit of high artistic and professional standards (DPR 212/2005).

The institutions belonging to the AFAM system are:

• State academies of fine arts (Accademie di belle arti statali),
• recognised non-State academies of fine arts (Accademie di belle arti non statali riconosciute),
• higher institutes for artistic industries (Istituti superiori per le industrie artistiche - ISIA)
• conservatoires (Conservatori),
• the National academy of drama (Accademia nazionale d'arte drammatica)
• the National dance academy (Accademia nazionale di danza),
• the officially recognised music institutes,
• other institutions authorised to release recognised qualifications. 

Institutions belonging to the higher university education and AFAM systems offer programmes and release qualifications of all the three levels of the Bologna process (Bachelor, Master, PhD), with a few exceptions. In addition, they may organise courses leading to other qualifications outside the Bologna structure. All the qualifications issued in the Italian education and training system, both State and Regional, are referenced to the NQF (pp. 85-89) that corresponds to the EQF. Qualifications issued by universities and AFAM institutions are also described in the Italian qualification framework of higher education (Quadro dei titoli italiani dell'istruzione superiore - QTI).

The providers of Higher technological education are the Higher technological institutes (Istituti tecnologici superiori - ITS Academies or ITSs) that are specialised tertiary institutions established to meet the demand of new and high-level competences coming from the labour world, of the technological sectors. ITSs have recently been reformed (law 99/2022).

Institutions of the university and AFAM systems as well as ITSs, have legal status and statutory, teaching, scientific, administrative, financial and accounting autonomy. They establish the organisation of the academic year, which, in general, starts on the 1^st of October, ends on the 30^th of September of the following year and is organised in semesters. For further details on the organisation of the academic year please refer to the Eurydice report 'The organisation of the academic year in Europe 2023-2024'.

Besides universities, AFAM institutions and ITSs, other institutions offer courses leading to a qualification equivalent to a second-cycle qualification issued by universities (DM 87/2009). Among them: the Higher institute for the conservation and restoration (Istituto superiore per la conservazione e il restauro) in Rome, the School of the Gemstone Factory (Scuola dell'Opificio delle pietre dure) in Florence, with its branch in Ravenna at the School of Restoration of the Mosaic (Scuola di restauro del mosaico), the Higher school at the Central institute for the pathology of archives and books (Istituto centrale per la patologia degli archivi e del libro) in Rome. In general, access to courses requires an upper secondary education qualification and an entrance examination. The number of places available is limited and fixed annually. In some cases, also a previous relevant training is required. These institutes fall within the responsibility of the Ministry of culture instead of the Ministry of university and research and, therefore, their offer will not be described in this chapter.