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THE ITALIAN STUDENT LOAN FUND (FONDO PER STUDENTI ITALIANI) was established in 1979 as a Delaware not for profit corporation with its principal purpose being to furnish financial assistance to Italian college graduates who wish to pursue further studies in the United States in order to obtain a Masters or PhD degree. Since 2000 the administrative office has been located at Centro Studi Americani in Rome. The motivation for its creation arose from an observation that the number of Italian students who chose to attend American universities was among the lowest in Western Europe. A need was felt, at the time, for Italian industry to upgrade the managerial capabilities of future classes in order to help the country maintain its position in an increasingly competitive world.
The idea arose from a meeting between the Italian prime minister and the U.S. Secretary for Foreign Affairs and pursued by the then U.S. Ambassador to Italy, Richard N. Gardner, and Guido Carli, former governor of the Bank of Italy and President, at the time, of Confindustria (Italian Federation of Industry). The constitution of the fund was made possible by contributions from important Italian and U.S. companies, entities and banks. At the beginning of activities in 1980 the capital of the Fund amounted to Euro 261,000 (506 million lire) and at 31 December 2005 was Euro 1,213,749 including grants to be repaid.
25th Anniversary Celebration, from the left: Prof. Karim Mezran, Director of the Center for American Studies of Rome; Mr John P. Dwyer, Minister Counselor for Public Affairs - US Embassy Rome; Peter C. Alegi, Vicepresident; Hon. Richard N. Gardner, Honorary Member; Prof. Luigi Ferro, President. This was the first time in Italy that the concept of personal financing (a sort of honor loans) was introduced for highly qualified Italian college graduates to undertake post-graduate studies in the United States. Initially the typical financing was the equivalent of approximately Euro 2,600 per student while today it is Euro 15,000, clearly not enough to cover the studies, but when integrated by other forms of assistance from American universities and other scholarships, as well as family resources, it permits the beneficiaries to realize their study programs. The financing conditions generally are that the beneficiary will begin repayment after two and a half years in 24 quarterly installments (comprising of a pro-rata share of capital plus a modest contribution to the capital of the Fund) over, in effect, a period of six years.
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