University of Salento Lecce: CENSIS 5th medium state, engineering and cultural heritage in Puglia's Baroque
With CENSIS 85.2/100 (5th among medium state universities), 16,000 students and 55 programmes in engineering, sciences, cultural heritage, languages and economics, the University of Salento is the academic hub of Lecce — one of Italy's most beautiful cities. Campus in the heart of Lecce's Baroque, 73% employment rate and 6% international students.
UniSalento: materials engineering, cultural heritage and languages in the Florence of the South
The University of Salento is the leading university of the Salento peninsula and one of the most dynamic academic hubs in southern Puglia. With approximately 16,000 enrolled students and 55 degree programmes, it covers engineering, mathematics and physics, cultural heritage, foreign languages, communication sciences, law, economics and biological sciences. The CENSIS 2025-2026 score is 85.2/100, placing it 5th among medium state universities.
Key disciplinary strengths include materials and polymer engineering — with advanced research laboratories in composites and nanotechnology — and cultural heritage, supported by the ideal context of Salento's vast artistic and architectural patrimony. Foreign languages and cultural mediation are another pillar, consistent with the territory's international and tourist vocation.
6% of students are international, with Erasmus+ agreements with over 200 European universities and partners in Latin America. The employment rate is 73%. Lecce is universally recognised as one of Italy's most beautiful cities for its Baroque in local stone — a heritage candidate for UNESCO listing — and one of the most coveted Mediterranean destinations for living and studying.
Academic Areas
University of Salento by the numbers
From 1955 to UNESCO Baroque candidate: the University of Salento and the cultural renaissance of Italy's heel
The University of Salento has its roots in the Higher Institute of Education founded in 1955 in Lecce. Having become an autonomous university in the 1970s, it progressively grew into a complete academic hub, with faculties of sciences, engineering, humanities, economics and law that shaped the human capital of the Salento region.
The strategic choice to specialise in materials engineering — connected to the composites and polymers industrial district in Puglia — and in cultural heritage — connected to Salento's extraordinary artistic, architectural and landscape patrimony — gave the university a distinctive and recognisable identity in the Italian university landscape.
Today the University of Salento is a rapidly internationalising institution, with an increasingly diverse student community. The university campus, distributed between Lecce's historic centre and the city's northern outskirts, offers modern facilities in a setting of exceptional beauty.
FAQ — Università del Salento – Lecce
Study in Salento: useful resources for your journey
The University of Salento is the ideal choice among Italian universities for those wishing to study engineering and cultural heritage in the most beautiful city in southern Italy. Discover everything about living and studying in Italy.
