2025 - 2026 SAA Rankings for Best Value Universities In Vatican City For International Students

9 Best Value Institutions in Vatican City for International Students

Here are the 9 best-value institutions in Vatican City for international students. Here, you’ll learn more about their rankings, international student population, and their background.

Pontifical Gregorian University, or Pontificia Universita Gregoriana in Italian, is the leading ecclesiastical or pontifical university in Vatican City. It welcomes thousands of students worldwide passionate about spiritual formation and forwarding the school’s centuries of history and experience. The institution is entrusted to the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, a religious order founded by Ignatius of Loyola. Saint Ignatius also founded the university itself in 1521.

The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross was established in 1984 as an institution meant to cover higher religious studies for the church. Over the years, the university has made developments serving students in other fields and courses of study. It also consists of other schools within its premises, thus identifying itself as a center of study and research activities. The university offers its students a variety of courses, thus accomplishing its academic goal of having students graduate from their areas of specialization as professional personnel.

The Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) is a private institution offering higher education to local and international students. It provides quality and comprehensive research and study programs for its students and their teachers in different departments and areas of specialization. Besides fulfilling its role as an academic institution, the university has lived up to its duty as a scientific and learner-based institution. Over the years, the university has formed partnerships and co-operations that have enabled it to make its developments for the benefit of its students and teachers.

Pontifical Lateran University is known by many names and titles: Pontificia Universita Lateranense, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis, Lateranum, Pontifical University of Apollinaire, and The Pope’s University. It was founded by a pope, Clement XIV, to provide the theological and philosophical education that Catholic seminarians needed. More than two centuries later, it continues to fulfill such a mission by welcoming thousands of individuals worldwide and teaching them the following disciplines: theology, philosophy, canon, and civil law.

The Pontifical University Antonianum is a private higher education institution established in 1890 as a missionary college attached to religious entities. However, it was only in 1933 that it was allowed to grant academic qualifications.

The Antonianum offers professional education to its students in law and theology. The university also has various faculties that are comprehensively equipped to benefit the scholars in their areas of specialization as they go through their course of study. The number of partnerships and other co-operations the university has made has enabled it to develop further to offer the best learning conditions.

The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas is a research-based institution that offers a variety of courses to its students at different levels. Varying faculties handle them, and scholars choose per their interests. The university also has a library that serves many students and has volumes of books that encompass the institution’s broad range of disciplines. Over the years, it has made advancements and developments in infrastructure and how they cover the academic goals of education, thus attracting students worldwide.

Pontifical Urban University, or simply Urbaniana, is a private pontifical institution managed by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The university was named after Pope Urban VIII, who founded it in 1627. Urbaniana specializes in missiology, spending centuries training missionaries and evangelists who can help spread the Word of God according to the Catholics.

The Pontifical Institution of Christian Archaeology (PIAC) was established in 1925. The institution prides itself in providing historical education and aims to improve its means of providing professional education to its students locally and internationally. It has made progress in making programs and research activities available for its scholars, which they can participate in as they complete their courses. Over the years, the institute has partnered with other institutions to advance into a better learning institution.

The Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences Auxilium is a research-based institution that offers teaching and training services in science and research. Besides offering educational programs and courses to students, the faculty also provides training activities and programs for the teachers in its institute. It envisions itself becoming one of the faculties in its region recognized for promoting humanism that protects and educates individuals. It also aims to become a reference point in international scientific projects and programs.