LUMSA Palermo: education, social sciences and Catholic training in the Sicilian capital
LUMSA's Palermo campus is a Catholic university with 2,000 students and 8 programmes in law, psychology, education sciences, communication and international relations. It brings LUMSA's Roman Catholic humanistic tradition to the cultural heart of Sicily, with its extraordinary UNESCO Arab-Norman heritage.
LUMSA Palermo: Catholic-inspired human and social sciences in Sicily's cultural capital
The LUMSA Palermo campus — Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta — is a Catholic university offering programmes in law, economics, education sciences, psychology, humanities, communication and international relations. With approximately 2,000 students and 8 degree programmes, the Palermo campus brings Catholic-inspired university training to one of southern Italy's largest and most culturally rich cities.
Palermo is a city of extraordinary complexity and richness: millennia of cultural stratification — Arab, Norman, Swabian, Aragonese, Bourbon — produced an exceptional artistic and architectural heritage, with the Palatine Chapel, the Massimo Theatre, the Ballarò and Vucciria markets, and a cuisine recognised as UNESCO intangible heritage. Studying in Palermo means immersing oneself in one of Italy's most stimulating cultural contexts.
The Palermo LUMSA campus offers programmes in education sciences, psychology and communication, particularly relevant in a city undergoing strong cultural and social transformation. The employment rate is 67%. The female proportion is very high (67%), reflecting the university's humanistic and pedagogical vocation. 4% of students are international.
Academic Areas
LUMSA Palermo by the numbers
LUMSA in Palermo: the Catholic humanistic tradition in the Sicily of a thousand peoples
The LUMSA Palermo campus was born in response to demand for Catholic university training in Sicily, a region with a strong Catholic identity and growing demand for university pathways in social sciences and communication. The choice of Palermo — the regional capital and a city of great cultural and religious significance — was natural for a university like LUMSA with a strong vocation for service to local communities.
LUMSA was founded in Rome in 1939 by the Missionary Sisters of Saint Francis de Sales, with the mission of offering quality university training grounded in Christian values. In subsequent decades the Roman institution established itself as one of Italy's leading Catholic private universities, opening campuses in several cities.
The Palermo campus has developed collaborations with Palermitan Catholic institutions — diocese, Catholic schools, third-sector organisations — building a training ecosystem rooted in the territory. Education science and communication programmes have been progressively adapted to the specific needs of the Palermitan and Sicilian context.
FAQ — LUMSA – Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta, sede di Palermo
The LUMSA Palermo campus is the choice for those seeking Catholic-inspired private university training in human and social sciences in the Sicilian capital. For Italian universities and everything about living and studying in Italy.



