How much do the tuition fees? A lot, as always, but in this new academic year they have finally dropped again compared to 2015 and the most significant reductions come to 14,33%. This is what emerges from the seventh survey by the Federconsumatori National Observatory on the costs of Italian universities.
The research considered five reference income brackets. For a student whose family income is in bracket I, the average annual cost of university fees amounts to 477,88 €, while arriving at an average of 2.265,32 € regarding the maximum amounts. These are high figures but compared to 2015 they have recorded a decline, also because some universities have changed the methods of calculating fees or raised the income limits within which it is possible to take advantage of particular economic benefits.
In detail, the highest decrease was recorded for the III band: the amounts are down by -14,33%. For the I, the II and the IV band, however, the decrease is respectively of -11,10%, -10,36% e -4,02%. The maximum amounts went against the trend, increasing by 0,83%.
Furthermore, one of the main findings that emerged in previous reports is also confirmed for the academic year that has just begun: Northern universities continue to impose higher tuition fees than other Italian universities. Considering the first income bracket, the costs exceed those of the Universities of the South by +8,72% and the national average by +16,41%.
Excluding the University of Salento, for which it was not possible to calculate part of the expected reductions, the most expensive university among those considered is the University of Verona, with 644,16 euros for the humanities faculties and 698,16 euros for the scientific faculties for the first income bracket. Next comes the University La Sapienza of Rome, which provides for minimum contributions of 588,00 euros for the humanities faculties and 619,00 euros for the scientific ones.
In this regard, it should be specified that not all universities apply different amounts for humanities and scientific faculties. In universities that provide for this distinction students of scientific faculties pay higher amounts: a student enrolled in the Faculty of Mathematics, for example, pays between 3,77% and 7,25% more than a colleague of his in Literature, depending on the income bracket he belongs to.
Then there is the paradox of tax evasion to consider: it is clear that the son of a tax evader can take advantage of benefits he does not need, perhaps paying less than the son of a worker.
