Universities, masters, doctorates and ITS Academy: the subsidized loan focuses on merit and can be requested without financial guarantees. Here are the requirements, amounts, repayment times and news for 2026
How to survive the expenses of a university course or a master’s degree? Between taxes, books, rent if away from home, the bill is high. There is a loan of honor. It is a subsidized loan that focuses on the student’s merit rather than on the parents’ assets and which also has some new features this year.
What is an honor loan and how does it differ from a normal loan
The honor loan is a loan reserved for university students enrolled in master’s degrees, doctorates or ITS Academy courses, designed to cover training costs. What differentiates it from a normal personal loan is that, in most cases, no financial guarantee is needed: no mortgages, no permanent pay slip, no parental signature as guarantors. Instead of traditional financial guarantees, the student’s scholastic or academic performance comes into play.
Behind many of these lines of credit is the Study Fund, managed by Consap on behalf of the Department for Youth Policies. The State does not directly lend the money to the student: it provides a public guaranteewhich can cover up to 70% of the financed amount. In addition to the public channel, several credit institutions have also developed their own products: some remain connected to the Study Fund and benefit from the state guarantee, others arise from direct agreements with individual universities and are autonomous financing, paid by the bank alone. In both cases, however, these are honor loans, with the same basic mechanism: no financial guarantee required and evaluation based on the student’s merit. For 2026 the Youth Credit Fund has some new features. Among the main changes is the possibility of submitting an application entirely online, via the MyConsap portal, by logging in with SPID or CIE. The study courses that can be financed have also increased and the repayment times of the funds have been better calibrated to the pace at which new graduates are actually able to enter the world of work.
Who can request the honor loan for the University and what requirements are needed
They can access the loan Italian citizens, or foreigners resident in Italywhich they have between 18 and 40 years old. The loan can be requested to pay different study paths: three-year and master’s degrees, single-cycle courses, AFAM courses, university master’s degrees, research doctorates, post-graduate specialization courses, language courses of at least six months if recognized, ITS Academy and, under certain conditions, also periods of study abroad. AND no ISEE limit is required, because it is the scholastic or academic results that count. Those who enroll in the first year must usually have achieved a high school diploma grade equal to or higher than 75/100, while for access to master’s or postgraduate courses the grade of the three-year degree is evaluated. For those who are already registeredmaintaining the benefit for subsequent years depends on passing a significant portion of the exams required by the study plan, while for the ITS Academy regularity of attendance also counts. In practice, disbursement takes place in annual or semi-annual tranches, and each new tranche is linked to compliance with these merit limits.
How much you can get and how the repayment of the honor loan works
The maximum amounts foreseen are up to 50 thousand euros for study courses in Italy and up to 70 thousand euros for courses abroad, with annual tranches that normally do not exceed 15 thousand euros. Some banks, through their products, even go beyond this threshold for specific advanced training courses. The advantage of the honor loan is in the repayment times. Once the studies are finished, the student does not have to repay the capital immediately: a period of suspension begins, often called a bridging period or pre-amortization, which can last up to 24-36 months and in any case not before the thirtieth month from the disbursement of the last tranche. In this phase, depending on the case, the maximum interest is paid, giving the new graduate time to find a job. Only then does the actual amortization begin, with fixed or variable monthly installments spread over a period that can range from 3-5 years up to 15, or in some cases 30 years, at rates that are decidedly lower than those of an ordinary personal loan. However, pay attention to a key point: the public guarantee facilitates access to credit, but does not cancel the debt. If the student does not comply with the repayment plan, the Fund can take action against the bank, but the sums still remain due to the person who obtained the loan.
How to apply and what to consider before signing
The request is made online. The first step is to check on the university website which banks are affiliated with it, or directly consult the MyConsap portal for financing linked to the Study Fund. You then need to obtain a certificate of merit requirements to attach to the application together with tax code, identity document and registration certificate. Before signing, however, it is advisable to check whether you are entitled to regional scholarships, partial exemptions or other university benefits, which exist and are different instruments from the honor loan. This check is useful because, usually, it involves financial aid that does not need to be repaid. It is also useful to compare multiple lenders, because different banks apply different conditions on spreads, repayment duration and installment flexibility, regardless of whether the product falls under the state guarantee or not. Finally, it is better to do a realistic simulation: how much is really needed, how much will be able to be returned each month once you enter the world of work and what are the employment prospects of the chosen path. It is in fact a subsidized loan, but it still remains a loan, to be repaid.
