Censis: the University of Padua is the best Italian mega-university

The University of Padua confirms itself, for the third consecutive year, as the best mega-Italian University (with more than 40,000 students) in the 2026 Censis ranking of Italian Universities. After taking first place in 2024 and confirming it in 2025, the University maintains its national leadership, consolidating a result that rewards the overall quality of its activities.

The Censis ranking is one of the main evaluation tools for the Italian university system. The analysis examines state and non-state universities, divided into homogeneous categories by size, evaluating them on the basis of various indicators: available facilities, services offered to students, scholarships and measures supporting the right to education, level of internationalization, communication and digital services, employability of graduates. Alongside this is the ranking of bachelor's degree programs, single-cycle master's degree programs, and two-year master's degree programs, developed by considering students' academic progression and international relations. Overall, Censis publishes 70 rankings built from more than 960 variables.

The University of Padua achieves an overall average score of 91.2, up from 90.3 last year. In detail, it scores 77 in the indicator relating to services, 84 for scholarships and measures in support of students, 88 for facilities, 110 for communication and digital services, 94 for internationalization and 94 for the employability of graduates.

“Having confirmed first place in the Censis ranking for the third consecutive year is a result that we welcome with great satisfaction, but also with the sense of responsibility that accompanies every recognition,” says Daniela Mapelli, Rector of the University of Padua. “We know well that the value of a university cannot be contained in a ranking: the quality of a University is measured every day in the research it produces, in the education it offers, in its ability to generate knowledge, innovation and opportunities for its students, and in the contribution it can make to society. Precisely for this reason, seeing our overall score rise again and receiving this confirmation is particularly meaningful. It is recognition of the daily work of an entire academic community: faculty, researchers, technical-administrative staff, and students who share an idea of a public university that is open, inclusive and deeply rooted in its civic role. To all of them I offer my most sincere thanks.

We will continue to invest in the quality of teaching and in the multidisciplinary breadth of our research. We will continue to remain anchored to the territory that hosts us, making academic knowledge, thanks to the third mission, a shared asset with citizens. We will continue to invest strongly in policies relating to students' right to education, making the University increasingly fair and inclusive. But we are aware that every result represents above all a new starting point. The University of Padua has more than eight hundred years of history: this long tradition teaches us that the most important milestones are built with continuity, rigor and the ability to renew ourselves. Rankings are snapshots of a moment. We, instead, are called to build the future. This is the responsibility of a great public University: to continue investing in knowledge, people and the freedom of research, because it is from here that the most important contribution we can offer to the country is born.”