Politecnico di Milano for International Students

The Politecnico di Milano is the largest technical university in Italy and the place most international students in Milan end up if they are studying engineering, architecture or design. For an exchange student the headline is short: every postgraduate programme is available in English, and there are more than seventy programmes across the three areas.

The thing worth knowing before you sign a lease is that the Politecnico is not in one place. It has two campuses in Milan, in two different parts of the city, and which one you belong to depends entirely on what you study.

Courses in English

The university’s own wording, checked in August 2026: all the postgraduate programmes and some of the undergraduate ones are available in English.

In practice that means if you are coming for a master’s, the language is not something you need to worry about. If you are coming at bachelor level, check your specific programme, because that is where the Italian-taught courses still are.

The offer is spread across the three schools the Politecnico is built on: Engineering, by far the largest, Architecture, and Design, which is the one people underestimate and which is consistently ranked among the best in the world.

Leonardo or Bovisa: which campus is yours

This is the part that changes where you should live.

Campus	Where it is	Who studies there
Leonardo	Città Studi, east of the centre	All of Architecture, and much of Engineering
Bovisa Durando	Bovisa, north, via Candiani 72	The School of Design
Bovisa La Masa	Bovisa, north	Engineering and technological innovation

Città Studi and Bovisa are not near each other. One is east, the other is north, and getting between them is a real journey rather than a walk. Every year design students arrive, rent a room in Città Studi because that is where they heard the Politecnico is, and then cross Milan twice a day for a year.

So before you commit to a room: find out which campus your specific courses are taught on, and rent near that one.

The Politecnico also has sites outside Milan, in Lecco, Cremona, Mantova and Piacenza, which is why the campus question is worth asking at all.

Where to live for each campus

If you are at Leonardo, look at Città Studi itself, Lambrate and Piola. It is the classic student quarter of Milan, walkable to the campus, and the best value in the city for the students who belong there.

If you are at Bovisa, look at Bovisa and Dergano. They are cheaper than the east side, well connected by the suburban rail, and full of students for the same reason. This is one of the few cases in Milan where the convenient option is also the affordable one.

We break the whole city down zone by zone, with what a room actually costs in each, in our guide to the zones of Milan.

Coming on Erasmus or exchange

You do not apply to the Politecnico directly. Your home university nominates you, which means the two need an agreement in place for your subject, and that is a conversation with your own international office rather than with Milan.

Your Learning Agreement is the document that matters. Expect to revise it once you arrive and can see the real timetable rather than the catalogue, and remember that changes have to be approved on both sides, by your coordinator at home and your contact at the Politecnico.

One practical thing specific to this university: when you pick courses, check the campus of each one, not just the timetable. A Tuesday course at Leonardo and a Wednesday course at Bovisa is perfectly possible, and perfectly manageable, but only if you knew about it before choosing where to live.

A note on the name

The Politecnico was founded in 1863, which makes it older than the Università Statale and the oldest university in Milan. That is also why the neighbourhood around the Leonardo campus is called Città Studi, literally “study city”: the area was built around the university in the early twentieth century, and a century later it is still the part of Milan where students live. The name is not marketing, it is a description.

Questions

Can I study at the Politecnico entirely in English?

At master’s level, yes: the university states that all postgraduate programmes are available in English. At bachelor level only some are, so check your specific programme.

How many campuses does the Politecnico have in Milan?

Two: Leonardo, in Città Studi to the east, and Bovisa, to the north, which is itself split between the Durando site for Design and the La Masa site for Engineering.

Which campus will I be on?

It depends on your subject. Architecture is at Leonardo, Design is at Bovisa Durando, Engineering is split across both. Check your individual courses, not just your school.

Where do Politecnico students live?

Città Studi, Lambrate and Piola for Leonardo; Bovisa and Dergano for Bovisa. Both are student areas, and Bovisa is the cheaper of the two.

Do I pay tuition to the Politecnico on Erasmus?

No. On an exchange you stay enrolled at your home university and pay your fees there. If you are applying for a full degree instead, the fees are on the university’s own site.

🎒 Coming to the Politecnico? The hard part is the two weeks after you land.
The Erasmus Milan Survival Kit is our free guide to arriving: the paperwork that actually applies to EU students, transport, banking, and the mistakes that cost the most money.
Or join the WhatsApp community → and ask people already studying here which campus is which.

Campus assignments and the language of individual programmes are set by the university and can change between academic years. The wording on English-taught programmes here is the Politecnico’s own, checked in August 2026. Always confirm the campus of your specific courses before signing a rental contract. Last updated: 29 August 2026.