Good Practice for Student Mobility in University of Pavia

Pavia is a city with 70,000 inhabitants 40 km south of Milan, the regional capital of Lombardy, one of the more populated and rich Italian regions. The University of Pavia was established in 1361 and until the 20th century has been the only university in the area of Milan and in Lombardy. Todays within the region there are 13 universities, 7 of which are located in Milan. Seven institutions, including Pavia University, are state universities. Currently, some 24,000 students study at the University of Pavia. About 21,500 students attend short first cycle courses (55%), that is undergraduate or Bachelors’ programmes, long first cycle (28%) and second cycle (16%) courses, that is graduate programmes equivalent to Masters’. The rest are doctoral students and students attending advanced specialised courses. Less than 10% of the students are from Pavia; about 55% of them come from other places within Lombardy, while 35% come from outside the region. Within Pavia, almost all the students walk around the city. More than 60% of them travel by bus and a considerable minority travel by car. About one out of four students travel by bicycle As urban mobility is one of the most important aspect of student life, since 2003 the University of Pavia has developed a protocol with the municipality and the Urban Public Transport society for the student mobility at discounted tickets (20 Euros per year for students; 175 Euros for specializing and majoring students). About 50% of university students use it.