the offer that generates its demand. If the famous economic law formulated in the eighteenth century by the French economist Jean Baptiste Say proved effective also in the field of education, the feared collapses of registrations in Italian universities due to the post-pandemic crisis will be curbed. A Svimez study warns that in the autumn of 2020 enrollments in Italian universities could decrease by around 9,500 students compared to last year: 6,300 less in the South and 3,200 less in the Center and North.
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Given these forecasts, here are the countermeasures of the university system: which go both in the direction of a reduction in fees for students and in the direction of an increase in the educational offer. In this way, it will be more segmented and specialized in order to meet the niches of demand for qualified personnel who currently do not find adequate coverage within companies.
Thanks also to the injection of resources provided for by the relaunch decree – there will be more students exempted from tuition and more scholarships will be available (even if the coverage remains low compared to the EU average). And above all, there will be a wider range of proposals: about 200 more degrees, bringing the total didactic offer to touch the record of 5 thousand courses. The main innovations foreseen by the universities focus on engineering, biotechnology and medicine. The latter will be one of the faculties growing in the coming years precisely because of the new large investments induced by the Coronavirus emergency.
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For freshmen there will be special attention, with many universities that will guarantee first year students a greater share of lessons and workshops in attendance. Even if the coronavirus has reduced graduates’ employment chances, one point does not change: as the level of qualifications increases, the risk of being trapped in the swamp of unemployment decreases. If in general young Italians struggle to find work, in 2020 the employment rate among under 30s equal to 50% for those with at least a degree, while it drops to 39.8% for graduates. In the 15-64 age group the gap widens: 79.1% against 64.6%.
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