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15 February 2025 · 3 min read · InTransparency Team

The Complete Guide to ITS Academy Diplomas in Italy

Everything you need to know about Italy's ITS Academy system — from enrollment to career outcomes, and how these technical diplomas compare to traditional degrees.

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What Are ITS Academies?

ITS Academies (Istituti Tecnologici Superiori) are Italy's answer to the growing demand for highly specialized technical professionals. These post-secondary institutions offer 2-3 year programs that bridge the gap between high school and the workforce.

Unlike traditional universities, ITS programs are:

  • Industry-driven: Curricula designed with direct input from companies
  • Hands-on: internships are mandatory, and most of the teaching comes from people working in industry (Law 99/2022, art. 5)
  • Employment-focused: part of national funding takes into account how many graduates find work related to their course (Law 99/2022, art. 11)

Key Facts About ITS Diplomas

Aspect Details
Duration 2 years (Level 5 EQF) or 3 years (Level 6 EQF)
Entry Requirements High school diploma
Internships Mandatory, for a share of total hours set by Law 99/2022 (art. 5)
Employment outcomes Measured by the national monitoring INDIRE runs for the Ministry (MIM)

The Technology Areas (DM 203/2023)

From the 2024-2025 training year (anno formativo), ITS Academy programs refer to the technology areas set by Ministerial Decree 203/2023 (art. 2), which replaced the areas of the DPCM of 25 January 2008:

  1. Energy (Energia)
  2. Sustainable mobility and logistics (Mobilità sostenibile e logistica)
  3. Chemistry and new life technologies (Chimica e nuove tecnologie della vita)
  4. Agri-food system (Sistema agroalimentare)
  5. Housing and the built environment (Sistema casa e ambiente costruito)
  6. Mechatronics (Meccatronica)
  7. Fashion system (Sistema moda)
  8. Services for businesses and non-profit organisations (Servizi alle imprese e agli enti senza fini di lucro)
  9. Technologies for arts, cultural heritage and tourism (Tecnologie per i beni e le attività artistiche e culturali e per il turismo)
  10. Information, communication and data technology (Tecnologia dell'informazione, della comunicazione e dei dati)

How ITS Compares to University

Many students wonder whether an ITS diploma or a university degree is the better choice. The answer depends on your goals:

Choose ITS if you:

  • Want to enter the workforce quickly
  • Prefer hands-on, practical learning
  • Have a clear technical career path in mind
  • Value industry connections and internships built into the course

Choose university if you:

  • Want to pursue academic research
  • Need a degree for regulated professions (medicine, law, architecture)
  • Prefer theoretical depth over practical breadth

ITS Graduates on InTransparency

On InTransparency, an ITS student or graduate publishes the projects they have worked on, internship projects included. This means they can show:

  • Skills extracted from their projects: the AI reads them from the published work and names the source of each one
  • Projects evaluated by a teacher: the student can ask a teacher to evaluate a project, and the evaluation stays separate from what the AI extracted; the school does not confirm projects, it only confirms who the teacher is when the platform does not know them

For companies, this means seeing where each skill comes from before writing to a candidate.

Ready to Explore?

If you're an ITS student or graduate, create your profile on InTransparency and publish your projects: companies will see where each skill comes from.

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