Bocconi University

Università Bocconi was established in Milan in 1902, with a generous endowment from Ferdinando Bocconi, a wealthy merchant. Today, Bocconi is a research university of international standing in business, economics, and law, with a student body numbering at around 13,500.

Milan is one of Italy's most vibrant and exciting cities. The streets of the city blend the old - the relics of the former Roman empire - with the new - towering skyscrapers in the city's business district. Traditionally known for its high fashion and art scene, the city has also become one of Europe's most important financial hubs.

You can read more about Milan on the Bocconi website.

Bocconi offers courses across eight departments: Accounting, Economics, Finance, Management and Technology, Marketing, Decision Sciences, Legal Studies, Department of Social and Political Sciences.

Course are available in English and Italian. Visit Bocconi's educational offer webpage to browse available courses.

As GO LSE students at Bocconi will be part of the CIVICA Engage track, they will be expected to take an Engage course as part of their programme.

The Bocconi exchange is additional to the requirements of your LSE degree. Having completed the year at Bocconi, you will then return to LSE to study the final year of your programme. Your year overseas will not count towards your final degree classification at LSE, but you will be issued with a separate Bocconi transcript providing details of your results.

For more information, visit Bocconi's academic calendar.

Students are eligible to apply for central university housing at Bocconi. Previously, exchange students were only permitted to apply for a single room (bathroom shared with another student of the same gender) in the Arcobaleno Residence Hall.

Further information can be found on Bocconi's housing webpage.

The scheme is open to all second year LSE undergraduate students (or third year BSc Philosophy, Politics and Economics students) who have been accepted onto the CIVICA Engage Track. Generally we require applicants to have passed all of their first year exams (without resits) and to have achieved a 2:1 average across their courses.

Tuition fees

GO LSE students are not required to pay any tuition fees to Bocconi to participate in the exchange. Instead, you will continue to pay tuition fees directly to LSE. Your tuition fee while studying abroad is significantly reduced as compared to when you are on campus. For further information, please visit our fees and funding webpage. 

Living costs

The estimated cost of living in Milan ranges from between €900 and €1,200 (or between £750 and £1,000) per month. This will cover your housing, meals, books, and personal costs, but flights and adminstrative costs are not accounted for.

Visit Bocconi's estimated costs webpage for more information.

Financial support

Please visit our fees and funding webpage for further information.

• I think Bocconi and this exchange in general really opened my eyes on so many aspects. It allowed me to take a step back, reflect on what I want for my life and how it is so important for me to position myself within the world instead of focusing and being locked in my mind all the time. It s important that as young, perfectionist and pressured individuals we learn to deal with our stress and anxieties to be able to move forward and learn and grow in all environments. 
  
  I learnt a lot also in terms of studies, how to approach exams in a less toxic and stressful way and saw I excelled so much more in that case. I have been able to experience for the first time a second approach to education in university and it showed me that there is so many different ways of approaching the same things, and that it s all about perspective. I believe that this will definitely help me in starting my new and last academic year at LSE with less anxiety pressure and mental pressure. This in turn will help me grow as a person and excel in my academics because I will feel good about myself. 
  
  I was also able to secure a 6 month internship in a deep tech startup and that gave me the opportunity of being immersed within the Italian culture to another level. It is something I would have never had the time to do were I in London and yet it contributes so much to my professional growth and development. I learned so much and for once, I really have the time to be fully a part of a company instead of just spending 3 months there. I think this will greatly contribute to my profile attractiveness for future jobs and I am very grateful for that. 
  
  Overall, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything else. I learnt so much and grew on an academic, professional and above all personal level. I would recommend it to anyone who is ready to welcome new ideas, positive and constructive criticism, and who always wanted to have the opportunity to try out new subjects and interests they never allowed themselves to take a look at. 
  
  By Violette Lafarge - CIVICA Exchange (2022/23)
• My exchange year has given me time to get to know myself. The host institution (Bocconi University) was less academically demanding than LSE so I had time to focus on different projects and aspect of my life – than purely academic. I had the time to reflect on my objectives, goals and re-think my career path. I was able to catch up on independent project – like reading, creative writing and travelling. 
  
  From an academic perspective, at Bocconi I was able to choose subjects that I would usually not have the opportunity to study during a Law degree. I broadened my knowledge and interests in topics of history, politics, economics, media and the arts. This was an invaluable opportunity, which largely broadened my general knowledge and awareness. 
  
  The extra year gave me time to further develop my career. I had the chance to take on research project with LSE professors, for which I could not find time during the LSE academic year. I also found the space to apply for very competitive vacation schemes for which the application process takes months. I was successful in securing the places I applied for, which was not the case the year before when I had to handle both the LSE academic requirements and the application processes. I was also working part-time which greatly contributed to my CV. 
  
  Moreover, I was able to create a lot of friendships with people from different cultures and learn another language. I had more time to dedicate to getting to know other people – the smaller-size of Milan allowed those connections to flow more naturally than in a large city as London. I got to travel a lot with those friends – allowing me to really understand the cultural, social and political background and contexts in Italy. After 4 months, I felt so confident in Italian that in my second term I chose a course in history of music taught solely in Italian, which I was very proud of.  
  
  Finally, studying in another educational system and living in another city allowed me to appreciate LSE and London even more. It was a great opportunity to take a year break from those environments, but being away from them made me see why they are special – which made me even more excited to continue studying in the UK next year. 
  
   By Natalia Neuber - CIVICA Exchange (2022/23)
• The most important insight that I can provide to any students considering to go abroad is to open your eyes - it may seem a clichė but so many people claim that they are open-minded but in fact they do not realise that they are still so close-minded to different races, cultures, people, diversity. So many people claim that they know so much about the world because they have travelled there, or lived there for a couple years, but there’s always a new place to explore, new cultures to discover, a new part of yourself to open up.
  
  Personally speaking, I found the culture the most enriching part of my study abroad experience, I would even make references to the country I used to study in when something reminds me of it, picking up habits from the locals, because I really did feel integrated into that society even if it was just a couple of months. I was particularly satisfied with the people whom I got to meet as I was part of a programme which integrated a diverse mix of students coming from all around the world. I have grown so much as an individual, I returned to my home school with a multitude of stories to share with my peers, full of love, life and laughter. I kept in contact with my friends I met on exchange and made plans to visit each other,I can confidently say that I have friends all over the world and I feel welcomed to all of these countries!
  
  The simplest way I could express my experience is that I learnt to focus on the bigger picture - there are so many opportunities in the world, so many people waiting to meet you, so much to experience, so much that I don’t know, and there is so much I want to learn about in the world. In spite of this, I must admit, the experience was not perfect - nothing is, but what you do gain from it far outweighs the bad stuff.
  
  By Hoi Ka Lam - GMIM student (2022/23)

Travel

GO LSE exchange students are expected to make their own travel arrangements. If you are eligible for Student Finance, you may be able to recoup part of the cost of up to three return journeys between your home and your host institution.

GO LSE exchange students will be covered under LSE's Travel Insurance policy, following completion of the necessary risk assessment document.

Health Insurance

Though LSE Travel Insurance will cover emergency treatment, it won’t cover regular services. For this you will need a Tessera Sanitaria (Health Insurance Card). The expected annual cost for students is €149.77.

Further information can be found here.

Visas

Non-EU students (including British citizens) will need to apply for a long-stay student visa to study in Italy. Citizens of European Union countries do not need a visa to study in Italy.