The story
The origins of higher education in Palermo date back to 1498, when courses in medicine and law were first taught in the city. From the second half of the 16th century, the Jesuits, based at the Collegio Massimo al Cassero, awarded degrees in theology and philosophy.
In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from the Kingdom of Sicily by Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, and their former seat was transformed into the Regia Accademia. When the Jesuits returned 37 years later, the institution had already taken on a new configuration. Ferdinand I then assigned the Accademia a more suitable location, transferring it to the Convent of the Teatini Fathers next to the Church of St. Giuseppe.
The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806. After the unification of Italy in 1860, the institution underwent a significant phase of modernization under the influence of chemist Stanislao Cannizzaro and Michele Amari, minister of public education and scholar of Arab studies.
Since 1984 the university’s main administrative seat has been housed in Palazzo Steri, one of Palermo’s most important historical buildings. Nearby lie the Orto Botanico di Palermo, which forms an integral part of the university.
In the academic year 2024/2025, the University of Palermo enrolled 44,629 students, including 8,944 first-year entrants and 766 international students. In the same period, 992 students from degree programmes took part in international mobility schemes.
As of 2024, the academic staff consists of 2,845 teaching and research personnel, including professors, researchers, contract lecturers and research fellows, while non-academic staff amounts to 1,469 employees.
From Wikipedia’s article on University of Palermo, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4