IULM

What IULM does

IULM (Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM) is a private Italian university founded in 1968 and headquartered in Milan at Via Carlo Bo 1, with a secondary campus (Polo di Roma) located at Palazzo Cipolla in central Rome. The institution specializes in higher education across communication, foreign languages, interpreting, arts, fashion, creative industries, tourism, and cultural heritage, offering seven bachelor's programs, eight master's programs (including a new Artificial Intelligence for Business and Society track), research doctorates in Visual and Media Studies and Communication, Markets and Society, and a portfolio of university master's, specialist master's, master's executive, and executive course programs.

The university is anchored by specialized research and production infrastructure including the IULM AI Lab, the IULMovie Lab for audiovisual production, the Behavior & Brain Lab, and the SSML Carlo Bo Institute for Advanced Studies (a wholly-owned subsidiary focused on interpreting and professional language laboratories). Supporting facilities comprise a library with 240,000+ catalogued volumes, the IULM Food Academy, the IULM Fitness Center, the Santander University Residence, and the Cascina Moncucco Residence, plus the IULMplay streaming platform and an International Language Centre e-learning platform with mobile app.

IULM's revenue model is multi-stream: tuition and enrolment fees structured in ISEE-based contribution bands for degree programs, premium one-time fees for master's and executive education, public research funding (notably PNRR / EU competitive grants), voluntary 5 per mille tax designations for scholarships and research, and corporate partnership income. The go-to-market is event-driven, anchored on Open Days, the IULM Orienta school outreach program (operating since 2003), orientation interviews, and a dedicated Admissions Office for international student recruitment via Erasmus, dual-degree, and exchange partnerships. Graduate employment outcomes per the AlmaLaurea 2025 report — 68.6% of bachelor's graduates, 84.6% of master's graduates at one year, and 88.3% at five years — underpin IULM's value proposition to prospective students and corporate partners.

Name

IULM

Legal name

Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM

Website

https://iulm.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

IULM is a private Milan-based Italian university founded in 1968, offering bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and executive programs in communication, languages, arts, fashion, tourism, and AI, with a Rome branch and Erasmus-driven international mobility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Milan

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Enrollment Fees: Revenue from student tuition fees for bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral programs. Fees are structured in contribution bands based on family income (ISEE).
2. Master and Executive Education: Revenue from specialist master's programs, university master's degrees, executive courses and programs. These represent premium continuing education offerings for professionals.
3. Research Funding and Grants: PNRR (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza) projects and competitive research funding from government and EU sources.
4. 5 per Mille Donations: Voluntary tax designation (5 per mille) donations from alumni and supporters for scholarships and research projects.
5. Corporate Partnerships and Projects: Special projects, partnerships, and collaboration agreements with companies (Progetti Speciali e Partnership).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IULM (Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM) is a private Italian university offering undergraduate bachelor's programs, graduate master's programs, master and executive education, and research doctorates focused on communication, foreign languages, arts, fashion, creative industries, tourism, and cultural heritage. The institution supplements its academic programs with specialized research labs (AI Lab, IULMovie Lab, Behavior & Brain Lab), an International Language Centre e-learning platform, student support services (Career Service, DiversaMENTE accessibility office, psychological counseling), campus facilities (residences, fitness center, food academy), and international mobility programs. Core revenue is generated through tuition fees structured by family-income bands, executive education programs, research grants, and corporate partnerships.

Product overview

IULM (Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione) is a university offering undergraduate and graduate programs primarily focused on communication, languages, arts, fashion, creative industries, and tourism. The institution operates a portfolio of educational products including seven Bachelor's Degree Programs, eight Master's Degree Programs, Master & Executive Education offerings, and Research Doctorates. Supporting infrastructure includes specialized labs (IULM AI Lab, IULMovie Lab), student services (Career Service, Diversamente Office for accessibility), campus facilities (IULM Food Academy, IULM Fitness Center), and streaming platform (IULMplay). The institution has a main campus in Milan and a satellite location in Rome.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IULM Communication School: School dedicated to Master programs
• IULMovie Lab
• IULM AI Lab
• diversaMENTE
• Polo di Roma

Products and services

• Bachelor's Degree Programs Seven three-year undergraduate degree programs covering arts and cultural events, communication/media/advertising, corporate communication and PR, fashion and creative industries, languages/culture/digital communication, mediation/interpreting/intercultural communication, and tourism/management/culture. Targeted at high school graduates seeking a bachelor's degree in communication, languages, arts, fashion, and tourism.
• Master's Degree Programs Eight two-year graduate degree programs with specializations in AI for business and society, fashion communication and luxury strategies, hospitality and tourism management (dual degree), art valorization strategies, marketing/consumer behaviour/communication, strategic communication, television/cinema/new media, and translation/interpreting/digital communication. Targeted at bachelor's graduates seeking advanced specialization with international and dual-degree options.
• Master & Executive Education Professional continuing education portfolio including University Master's Degrees, Specialist Master's Degrees, Master's Executive, and Executive Course programs targeted at working professionals seeking advanced specialization or career development in communication, languages, fashion, tourism, AI, and related fields.
• Research Doctorates Doctoral research programs in Visual and Media Studies and in Communication, Markets and Society. Targeted at researchers and advanced scholars pursuing original academic research in communication, media, and markets.

Quantifiable outcome

• 68.6% of bachelor's graduates employed within one year (AlmaLaurea 2025)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AGIS (Associazione Generale Italiana dello Spettacolo)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018AGIS partnered with IULM to launch TEHC - Teaching European History Through Cinema, a project co-financed by the European Commission under the Creative Europe program. The initiative teaches European history through cinema in secondary schools across five European countries (Italy, Bulgaria, Ireland, Romania, Slovenia).
• AGISCUOLAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Education branch of AGIS collaborating on the TEHC project for teaching European history through cinema in schools.
• PizzAutcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial partnership bringing the third venue of the PizzAut project to the IULM campus - the first restaurant within an Italian university run by people with autism, part of broader inclusive training initiatives.
• CoReVe (Consorzio Recupero Vetro)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFramework agreement on sustainability including scholarships, green initiatives, and training programs to prepare communicators for ecological transition.
• MondoIULM AssociationcoreOthersAlumni association connecting IULM graduates worldwide, promoting networking and university support.
• ALIULM (Associazione Laureati IULM)coreOthersOfficial graduates association supporting alumni connections and university engagement.
• Erasmus Programme PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEuropean universities participating in Erasmus student and staff mobility, dual degree programs, and international exchange initiatives.
• Santander UniversitiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity residence sponsorship providing student accommodation on campus.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Università di Bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum): Italy's oldest public university with strong programs in communication sciences, foreign languages, and cultural heritage. Public-sector alternative for similar academic programs with broader research output and international rankings.
• ESCP Business School: Pan-European business school with multiple national campuses and programs in marketing, communication, and luxury/creative industries. Comparable as a multi-campus European institution targeting internationally mobile students interested in business-communication hybrid careers.
• Università degli Studi di Milano (La Statale): Major public research university in Milan with humanities, communication, and language programs. Competes with IULM for the same Milan-area undergraduate pool but at significantly lower tuition, representing the public-sector alternative for communication and language students.
• Politecnico di Milano: Top-ranked Italian technical university in Milan with design and communication engineering programs. Competes for students interested in design, media technology, and communication technology, though with a STEM rather than humanities orientation.
• Università Bocconi: Italy's premier private business and economics university, located in Milan, with globally ranked master's programs and strong employer placement. Competes with IULM for graduate students in communication, marketing, and management, but with broader scope and stronger international brand.

Regional players

• John Cabot University: American English-language liberal arts university based in Rome, serving international and American students in Italy. Comparable as a private, English-instructed higher education institution competing for international students in Rome, though with broader liberal arts rather than specialized communication focus.

Direct peers

• Università Ca' Foscari Venezia: Public Italian university specializing in languages, intercultural communication, and tourism management—directly overlapping with IULM's core domains. Comparable as a specialized institution serving similar student segments with international mobility programs and language-focused curricula.
• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore: Italy's largest private non-profit university, with multi-campus presence (Milan, Rome, Brescia) and broad program offerings in communications, economics, and humanities. Directly comparable as a private Italian university competing for the same domestic and international student segments with overlapping communication and language programs.
• LUISS Guido Carli: Private Rome-based university specializing in social sciences, law, economics, and communication with strong corporate partnerships and high graduate employment rates. Direct competitor for communication-oriented master's students and corporate executive education in Italy.
• Università per Stranieri di Siena: Italian public university specializing in teaching Italian language and culture to international students. Comparable niche focus on language education and international student services, though smaller in scale and public-sector funded.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/1952272538532
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iulm-university
• Xx.com/uniiulm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IULM