NARIC guide on Higher Education Systems in the European Union

When formulating his or her study plan, a student may decide to adopt the so-called piano di studi statutario (statutory plan),
which corresponds with the official curriculum included in the university statute, or to build up a piano di studi individuale
(personal study plan), to be submitted to the approval of the faculty council. Personal study plans are usually accepted,
provided they are based on the subjects actually taught at the university site concerned and include the full number of
compulsory subjects.
A period of practical training (tirocinio) is often included in the curriculum studiorum.
(b) SDAFS courses
The schools for special purposes are university institutions depending on the relevant faculties.
First established in 1933 ( 2 ) and subsequently reorganized in the 1980 ( 3 ), SDAFSs had the essential purpose of granting
diplomas that could enable their holders to take up jobs and professions which did not need the study level of a laurea, but, at
the same time, required both scientific
knowledge and sound cultural background along with practical
training of university kind.
Being set up by specific faculties, these types of unit form an integral part of the universities they belong to. Therefore, when
a SDAFS is established, the fact must be recorded in the university statute; moreover, it is the relevant university faculty that
lays down proposals for the school
curriculum, entry requirement, study organisation, examination procedure, and so on.
SDAFSs’ general regulations are determined by the Ministry of Universities on the advice of the CUN (National University
Council).
As concerns SDFASs that have to conform to EC regulations, and those which award degrees permitting the practice of
certain professions, the official rules must be agreed upon by two ministries, the one for universities and the one competent
for the profession concerned; so, for instance, in the case of SDAFSs related to the sanitary sector, responsibilities are shared
between the Ministry of Universities (always in conjunction with CUN) and the Ministry of Health.
According to the 1990 reform ( 1 ), a few universities are modifying their statutes so as to transform some SDAFSs into DU
courses, whereas others are confirming their SDAFSs as such. The reason for this choice is that some institutions, in order to
adequately meet specific requirements of the local labour market, while continuing to ensure the general cultural background
of their first level degree courses, at the same time do not want to renounce their typical professional orientation, which is
stronger and more specific in SDAFS courses than in DU ones.
SDAFSs’ main purpose is — and has always been — to prepare students for specific professions, meeting the market demand
for an emerging class of trained technicians.
Most SDAFSs operate in the health, agricultural, technical and economic sectors. According to the latest statistics (CIMEA
1996), 100 SDAFS degree courses are presently available, grouped in 38 national types.
The average duration of their degree courses varies from two to three years, full time.
Study organisation is generally modelled on the CL pattern; nevertheless, SDAFS studies still retain a few typical features,
which distinguish them from both CL studies and DU courses:
class attendance is always compulsory;
syllabuses are normally more vocationally-oriented than in DU courses;
a period of practical apprenticeship (tirocinio) is compulsory: it is meant to provide students with a practical training
which, together with the indispensable purely academic education, should enable them to enter the work world in the full
sense, with no need for
further professional experience.