Luca is deciding between Ingegneria Informatica at Politecnico di Milano, ITS Rizzoli (a 2-year technical diploma in IT), or skipping university and learning to code online while working. His parents say “laurea.” His uncle Giorgio says “any degree will do.” A friend’s older brother is making €50k/year without a degree.
All three paths lead somewhere. The question is: where, for whom, and at what cost?
Today’s lesson is about the data. Who earns what in Italy by education level, broken down by field, with the specific distinction that Italian education-wage data requires — because unlike the US, Italy doesn’t automatically reward degrees, and some popular fields have terrible ROI.
The big picture
Italy’s wage-by-education data is surprisingly flat compared to other developed countries. The “laurea premium” — how much more university graduates earn vs high school only — is one of the smallest in the OECD.
OECD Education at a Glance 2023 data (source: https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/):
- Italy: 39% earnings premium for tertiary-educated (25-64 yr) vs upper-secondary.
- OECD average: 54%.
- Germany: 58%.
- US: 72%.
- UK: 39%.
So a college degree in Italy bumps earnings by ~40% on average, compared to ~70% in the US. Less return on tuition investment.
Why? Several reasons:
- Italian wage compression — collective contracts and unions keep ranges narrower.
- Many high-paying professions have strong non-university pathways.
- University graduates overrepresented in education, public sector, and liberal arts — fields with low wage dispersion.
- Field of study matters enormously in Italy — the 39% average hides huge variation.
The field-specific data
Italian average gross annual earnings by degree field, ~5 years after graduation (source: AlmaLaurea Indagine 2024 sulla Condizione Occupazionale dei Laureati, https://www.almalaurea.it/universita/occupazione):
| Field | Avg gross annual earnings, 5yr post-laurea |
|---|---|
| Medicina | ~€33,000 |
| Ingegneria | ~€32,000-37,000 (varies by sub-field) |
| Informatica | ~€32,000 |
| Economia / Statistica | ~€28,000-30,000 |
| Architettura | ~€25,000 |
| Giurisprudenza | ~€24,000 |
| Chimica-Farmacia | ~€26,000 |
| Scienze Politiche | ~€22,000-24,000 |
| Lettere | ~€20,000-22,000 |
| Scienze della Formazione | ~€19,000 |
| Psicologia | ~€19,000 |
A Politecnico di Milano engineering degree leading to €40-45k at year 5 is very different from a liberal arts degree leading to €22k. Both are “laurea”. ROI varies wildly.
Laurea triennale vs magistrale vs dottorato
Three tiers of university qualification:
- Laurea triennale (3-year bachelor) — basic qualification. Entry-level roles. Less common as terminal degree in some fields (engineering, law rarely stop here).
- Laurea magistrale (additional 2 years) — standard “graduate” for most fields. Most engineering, business, law, medicine requires this level.
- Dottorato (PhD, 3-4 years more) — research, academia, some specialized industry roles.
Italian labor market treats laurea triennale often as “incomplete.” If you intend to work in a field that normally requires magistrale, the triennale alone may not help much. Sofia’s data analyst role expected at least triennale; most of her colleagues have magistrale.
Cost: Italian universities are cheap by international standards. University tax (tasse universitarie) ranges €500-4,000/year depending on income and university. Compare to UK (£9,250/year), US ($10-50k+/year), and Italian laurea looks like a bargain.
Laurea triennale total cost: ~€3,000-12,000 + living expenses for 3 years. Magistrale additional: €2,000-8,000 + 2 more years. PhD: often funded via stipend (€1,200-1,400/month), so you’re not paying.
The ITS alternative
ITS (Istituto Tecnico Superiore) — 2-year professional post-secondary programs focused on applied skills. Tuition often subsidized or free. Focus on real industrial applications: IT systems, mechatronics, logistics, energy, biotech.
ITS has been growing rapidly since 2010s as the government pushes practical education. Data (source: INDIRE Monitoraggio ITS 2023):
- ITS employment rate 1 year after completion: ~80% of graduates employed.
- Of those, ~90% work in a field related to the ITS program.
- Starting salaries: €20,000-28,000 depending on field.
For Luca interested in IT, ITS Rizzoli in Milan has employment rates above 85% at graduation, with companies like Accenture, Reply, Italtel hiring directly. Less prestige than a Politecnico degree, but faster to market (2 years vs 5), cheaper, and often with better early-career progression in applied roles.
When ITS wins over laurea: you want a specific applied technical skill fast, your target employers value industrial relevance over prestige, you’re motivated to execute in the workplace rather than in a lab.
When laurea wins: you want career optionality across many domains, you’re aiming at roles requiring a formal degree (engineer albo, avvocato, medico, architetto), or you’re targeting research/academia/abroad.
Apprenticeship and work-study
Apprendistato — a legal contract combining work and training. Three types:
- I livello (ages 15-25) — for acquiring a school qualification while working.
- II livello — di mestiere (16-29) — most common; combines work with vocational training.
- III livello — di alta formazione (18-29) — combines work with university/specialization.
Apprendistato offers significant tax and contribution savings to employers (IRAP and INPS reductions), so employers actively seek apprendisti. Pay is usually lower than standard contracts but not by huge margins.
For a young person with a clear career direction, apprendistato can be the highest-ROI path: you earn and learn simultaneously, with limited opportunity cost.
Self-study and online learning
The “no degree, learn online” path. Realistic for:
- Software development
- Data analysis
- Digital marketing
- Design
- Content creation
- Trades (though these usually require apprendistato)
Italian employment statistics for self-taught professionals are patchy, but LinkedIn Italy salary data suggests software developers with 3+ years experience earn €35-55k regardless of whether they have a degree. The degree matters more for the first job than for ongoing career.
Catches:
- Getting the first job is harder without a formal credential. Italian recruiting is degree-heavy.
- Some roles require degrees legally (engineering, medicine, architecture, law, pharmacist, psychologist). Not optional.
- Discipline is needed. Self-directed learning requires ~3,000-5,000 hours of genuine work to reach employable level in most technical fields. No shortcuts.
ROI calculation for Luca
Rough comparison for Luca (assumes he chooses computer science / IT adjacent):
| Path | Total cost | Time to first salaried role | Expected starting salary | Expected salary at age 30 | 5-yr NPV at 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PoliMi Ingegneria Informatica (5 yr + magistrale) | €20,000 + 5 yrs | 5 yrs | €32-38k | €45-55k | High |
| ITS Informatica (2 yr) | €1,000 + 2 yrs | 2 yrs | €22-28k | €35-45k | Moderate |
| Self-study + work | €500 + 3 yrs | 3 yrs | €25-32k (harder to get first job) | €40-50k | Moderate-high, higher variance |
| Apprendistato di alta formazione | €0 (paid apprentice) | 1 yr | €18-22k as apprentice, €30k+ after | €40-50k | High |
All four paths lead to working IT professionals at age 30 earning €40k+. The differences are in cost, time-to-income, credential prestige, and optionality for future career pivots.
Politecnico’s advantage is optionality — the degree opens doors internationally, at big multinationals, and for career pivots into management. Its disadvantage is cost and 5 years of lost income.
ITS’s advantage is speed and applied focus. Its disadvantage is less brand prestige.
ROI calculation for Sofia’s friend considering MBA
A separate case. Sofia’s friend Marco, 32, currently earning €45k, considering an MBA at SDA Bocconi costing €80,000 for 12 months of full-time study.
Math:
Cost:
- Tuition €80,000
- Opportunity cost (no salary for 12 months): €45,000
- Living costs: €20,000
- Total cost: ~€145,000
Expected benefit:
- AlmaLaurea post-MBA placement data for top programs: +40-60% salary bump. From €45k → ~€65-70k.
- Over a 25-year remaining career, NPV of extra €20-25k/year at 5% discount: €280-350k.
NPV positive, but:
- Depends heavily on field (finance/consulting MBA grads get the premium; general-management less).
- Depends on whether employer would sponsor (often yes at mid-career).
- Depends on career stage (MBA at 28-32 is peak ROI window; at 45 much less).
MBAs in Italy: make sense at top programs (Bocconi SDA, MIP Politecnico, Luiss) with sponsor or with clear consulting/finance target. Middle-tier MBAs rarely justify cost.
The field matters more than the level
Consistent finding in OECD data: field of study is a bigger predictor of lifetime earnings than degree level within field.
A laurea in STEM outearns laurea in humanities by ~30-50%.
A mediocre CS graduate outearns an excellent philology graduate on pure earnings over a career (not counting non-monetary value of each path).
This is deeply unfair. Humanities graduates often contribute more culturally, educationally, socially. But we’re talking about wage ROI specifically. If your only metric is lifetime earnings, the choice of field at 18 is among the most consequential decisions you’ll make.
If your metric is something else (meaning, contribution, intellectual joy, family flexibility), the analysis changes completely. A teacher earning €28k and loving the work may have vastly higher “life ROI” than a consultant earning €100k and hating Mondays.
What to do with this lesson
Three things:
- Before picking a degree, check AlmaLaurea employment data for your target field.
https://www.almalaurea.it/universita/occupazione. Expected earnings at 5 years out, employment rate. - Consider 2-year ITS options for applied technical fields. Faster, cheaper, often high-paying. Underrated by Italian families vs traditional laurea.
- For mid-career, evaluate tuition ROI coldly. Cost including opportunity cost, vs expected salary bump times remaining career years. Be honest about the numbers.
Sources
- AlmaLaurea — Indagine 2024 sulla Condizione Occupazionale dei Laureati.
https://www.almalaurea.it/universita/occupazione(retrieved 2025-02). - OECD — Education at a Glance 2023.
https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/(retrieved 2025-02). - INDIRE — Monitoraggio ITS 2023.
https://www.indire.it/progetto/percorsi-its/(retrieved 2025-02). - ISTAT — Forze di lavoro per titolo di studio.
https://www.istat.it/it/lavoro-e-retribuzioni(retrieved 2025-02).
Next lesson: skills that compound — English, data/coding, communication. The specific skills that demonstrably raise Italian earnings, with numbers.