Milan's Università Bocconi is to offer a degree course taught exclusively in English from next year, mostly to foreign students and with many of the lecturers recruited from abroad.
The three-year degree, which conforms to the three-plus-two-year degree structure being adopted by Italian universities, will be a general appraisal of economics and will tackle issues related to international economics and management. It will be open to a limited number of Italian students.
Bocconi's rector, Carlo Secchi, who took over at Italy's most famous private university in November, is himself a Bocconi graduate who has taught in Rotterdam, Paris and Vienna. He is an advocate of breaking down national barriers in higher education.
"We hope to attract students from all over the world to study economics and management in an international context, but from an Italian point of view. We think the Italian model is interesting and may be useful in many parts of the world," he said.
The vitality and adaptability of Italy's small and medium-sized enterprises would be of particular interest, Professor Secchi said.
These were the life-blood of the economy during the recessions of the 1970s. Today, they are highly regarded for the speed and efficiency with which they open up new markets and establish production overseas.
"Foreign students come to us to understand where this spirit of initiative and this entrepreneurial creativity comes from," Professor Secchi said.
He believes the presence of a strong contingent of foreign students will also greatly benefit Bocconi, creating an international environment. "They will not be isolated. These people will live in the same corridors and eat in the same cafés as the rest of Bocconi. There will be contact and exchange, which will enrich the rest of the university. The domestic market is no longer Italy, but the European Union.
"After the three-year degree course, the foreign students will presumably have learnt Italian and will be able to continue at Bocconi for the further two years of specialisation. A number of courses at the second stage are taught in English."