Università degli Studi di Cagliari

History

Universita di Cagliari received papal recognition in 1607 and its royal founding privilege from Filippo III of Spain in 1620; teaching began in 1626 with four original faculties. It gained confirmed official university status in 1902 and today enrols around 24,750 students across 6 faculties and 15 departments.

Academic reputation

In the CENSIS 2026/2027 ranking of large state universities (20,000-40,000 students), Cagliari placed 3rd nationally (score 88.5). In the CENSIS 2025/2026 discipline-specific architecture ranking, Cagliari scored 84, below Alghero, Politecnico di Milano, Genoa, Rome and Florence and roughly level with Bologna.

Position in Italian architecture education

Cagliari is Sardinia's only public university offering architecture, functioning as the region's sole provider for the discipline -- a mid-table national programme by the Censis discipline metric, but with no comparable competing public architecture programme on the island.

International reputation

Erasmus+ agreements span roughly 800 mobility grants university-wide each year; the Architecture programme has its own dedicated Erasmus office distinct from the general international-mobility service.

The architecture school

DICAAR -- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale e Architettura, with contributing teaching from the Dipartimento di Lettere, Lingue e Beni Culturali — Complesso di Santa Croce, Via Corte d'Appello 87 (historic city centre) and Via Marengo 2 (DICAAR headquarters), Cagliari

The Faculty of Engineering (1939) and Faculty of Architecture (created 2006) merged into the Facolta di Ingegneria e Architettura in 2012; the current DICAAR administrative structure describes itself as the university's polytechnic expression, spanning civil engineering, environmental engineering, architecture and applied geosciences.

DICAAR states a cultural mission around design, planning, protection, restoration and valorisation of the environment, landscape, architectural and historical-archaeological heritage, and structural/infrastructural assets.

The final exam is distinctively portfolio-based: a discussion, before the degree commission, of a book of works produced across all three years, rather than a standalone thesis project -- a continuity-of-portfolio assessment model uncommon among Italian L-17 programmes.

Curriculum by programme

What makes it different

The Sardinia/Mediterranean specialisation is directly stated in the university's own regulatory document, not marketing copy -- the strongest, most defensible differentiator. Cagliari is also the sole public architecture provider on the island. The distinctive portfolio-based final exam (a three-year book of works, discussed publicly, rather than a standalone thesis) is a genuine pedagogical difference from most Italian L-17 programmes.

Is this university right for you?

A good fit if you: are interested in Sardinian and Mediterranean architectural/cultural context specifically, want Sardinia's only public architecture programme, and appreciate a distinctive portfolio-based (rather than thesis-based) final assessment.

Less suitable if you: want the widest possible choice of peer architecture schools on the mainland, or prefer a conventional thesis-defence final exam.

Student life

Living cost level: Medium

Average single-room rent in Cagliari reached EUR449/month in 2026 (up from EUR283 six years earlier, a 58% rise), among the sharpest rent increases of any Italian city; overall estimated monthly cost of living (rent + food + leisure + transport) runs roughly EUR550-700. Utility bills in Cagliari also run above the national average.

Sardinia's regional capital, a coastal Mediterranean port city.

Admission at a glance

For exact seats, dates and fees, see the admissions section above — this is a qualitative summary only.