About Us

Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italian: Università Ca' Foscari Venezia), or simply Ca' Foscari, is a public research university and business school in Venice, Italy. Since its foundation in 1868, it has been housed in the Venetian Gothic palace of Ca' Foscari, from which it takes its name. The palace stands on the Grand Canal, between the Rialto and San Marco, in the sestiere of Dorsoduro, while the rest of the University is scattered around the historical centre. In addition to the historical centre of Venice, Ca' Foscari also has campuses in Mestre and Treviso.

Ca' Foscari was founded in 1868 after the annexation of the Veneto region in the Kingdom of Italy as the Regia Scuola Superiore di Commercio (Royal College of Commerce). As such, it is the second oldest business school in the world, after the Institut Supérieur de Commerce d'Anvers, founded in 1853. Ca' Foscari expanded throughout the 1900s and became a full-fledged university in 1968. It currently has eight departments and almost 21,000 students, and is Venice's biggest university.

The Ca' Foscari Palace

The Ca' Foscari Palace seen from the Grand Canal.

Its teaching and research is centred around economics & business, humanities, and modern languages.[4] Together with a northern grouping of Bocconi University, University of Bologna and University of Padua, Ca' Foscari's economics department is consistently ranked amongst the foremost in Italy. As well, Ca' Foscari is consistently ranked amongst the best Italian universities for the study of humanities and modern languages, for its teaching and research on the history and languages of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.