Please note that your application will be completed only once you will have sent us your application fee and documents. See here for details.
Admission requirements
RILA is more intellectually demanding than most ordinary study abroad programs. It requires above all a motivation to pursue ideas, not simply to see the sights of Rome. In addition, a certain maturity is required to live abroad. Hence applications will be accepted only from those students who:
- Will be at least 18 years old by the date they apply to RILA
- Will have completed at least one year of college before the date the RILA course begins
- Are in good academic and disciplinary standing (or have graduated)
Application procedure
Step 1: APPLICATION
Apply online by application deadline. To complete your application, you will also need to send us the following:
- Unofficial transcripts or grade report of all post-secondary school work to date.
- Brief personal statement (1/2 – 1 page about yourself and why you are interested in studying abroad).
- A $60 application fee, payable through the Payments section on this page
Both your personal statement and unofficial transcripts should be e-mailed to info@rilarts.org. You can send an electronic document downloaded from your home institution’s website, or a scanned or photographed image of the printed transcripts. Please make sure that your name and GPA as well as the name and/or logo of the institution that released the document are clearly visible in the image.
Please note that your application will not be effective until we will have received all required documentation and fees.
Step 2: ENROLLMENT
Soon after application deadline, you will receive an e-mail informing you whether your application has been accepted. Only once you have been accepted, please send in the online REGISTRATION form within 3 days. You will then be required to complete your payment within a week.
Please note that by signing/sending your registration form, you are formally enrolling in the program. If you withdraw at any time after you have been enrolled, our cancellation policy will apply.
Once you will have completed your travel arrangements, please complete and send your Travel form. We warmly recommend that students make their travel arrangements and send in their travel form by the end of April.
Check the Student Life page and the FAQ page for additional information about your trip and time in Rome.
Deadlines
A limited number of spots are available for early admission for students who do not require financial aid. RILA will accept such applications on a rolling basis starting on December 1st and until all available spots are assigned or until the application deadline, whichever comes first. Students applying for early decision must specify that in their email accompanying their application documents. Students will be notified whether their application has been accepted within a few days after completing their application. Early admission students cannot receive financial aid from RILA or from their home institution at a later time.
Students who apply for financial aid can do it at any time before the financial aid deadline. They will receive an answer soon after the application deadline .
Please note that all required application documents and fee must be received by the given deadline. Applications that are not fully completed by their deadline will incur in a late fee or might be dismissed.
Summer Programs applications: January 18th.
Summer Programs financial aid applications: January 11th.
Please be aware that RILA has a strict policy about deadlines. In case you have problems respecting the given dates, please let us know about it as soon as possible, and we will try to work with you at a solution. However, if your application is accepted but your registration documents and fees are more than 2 days late and we can’t reach you, a late fee of $50 will be applied and it will be doubled after 3 more days.
Late application may still be possible, please contact us at info@rilarts.org.
Fees
| Tuition: | € 4,650 | |||
| Housing: | € 1,555 | * | ||
| Activity fee | € 325 | ** | ||
| Health care insurance: | € 65 | ** | ||
| Optional Italian language class: | € 385 |
RILA’s fees are normally paid in US$. However, please note that since RILA is a US entity operating in Italy, due to fluctuations of the euro/dollar exchange rate, we publish fees and costs in euros (€) in order to maintain them fixed throughout the year. At the time to make your payment, you will receive an invoice in US$ calculated on the exchange rate at that time. (The euro-dollar exchange rate is subject to daily variations, and a euro is usually worth from $1 to $1.2. For a better estimate, please double-check the exchange rate when it is closer to the time you have to complete your payment.)
* The housing price listed covers rent and other expenses (i.e.; cleaning, electricity, insurance, maintenance, city tourist tax). The amount indicated refers to the six weeks duration of the program, in apartments shared with three to five other RILA students.
**Mandatory.
The expenses listed below can be used as guides for financial planning, but please understand that students’ expenses may vary greatly depending on individual habits, travel plans, and exchange rates.
Other expenses not included in fees paid to RILA:
- Round Trip Airfare $800 – $1,600
- Housing deposit $100 (refunded at check-out in absence of damages)
- Meals $600 – 1500
- Public transportation $75 for six weeks
- Optional two night trip to Siena $150
- Credits fee $600 (only for students from colleges that don’t have an affiliation agreement with RILA)
Payments
Please note that since RILA is a US entity that operates in Italy, all fees and costs are expressed in euros (€) in order to maintain them fixed throughout the year. The euro-dollar exchange rate is subject to daily variations, and a euro is usually worth from $1 to $1.2. At the time to make your payment, you will receive an invoice in US$ calculated on the exchange rate at that time. Once you receive your invoice, you will be required to complete your payment within one week.
You can complete your payment either by bank transfer or PayPayl/credit card following the instructions below. (A 3.49% booking fee will be applied to PayPal and credit card payments.)
You can make a payment through your bank. If you have online banking, it is usually possible to make an electronic direct deposit or pay through Zelle. These are both fast and free payment methods. Zelle might require that you break down your payment in several transactions because of a maximum amount per transaction. If that is the case with your Zelle account, please email us at payments@rilarts.org to let us know. Alternatively, you can make a wire transfer, although this is a slower and more expensive way to complete your payment. Below you can find the information you will need for each payment method:
- Payment: indicate the amount you intend to pay to RILA
- Zelle: payments@rilarts.org
- Direct deposit, electronic payments routing number: 121042882
- Wire transfer, domestic routing number: 121000248
- Account number: 1571558715
An installment plan is available to interested students. The payment plan will allow students to break the total owed into three parts: the first and largest payment, including rent and one third of tuition, will be due on February 1st; the second and third payments, each for 50% of the remaining amount of tuition and any other expenses, will be due on March 1st and on April 1st. To request an installment plan, please send an email, together with your registration, to info@rilarts.org
Financial Aid
Every year RILA grants a number of scholarships to students in need. RILA scholarships cover from 10% to 40% of tuition. All other costs and expenses (i.e.; remaining tuition, travel expenses, rent, etc.) are to be covered by the student.
Given the limited number of scholarships available, we invite those students who can afford to pay full tuition to leave the scholarship opportunities for those who most need them. For the same reason, our policy is not to grant funds to students who already received aid towards RILA from their home institution or any other organization.
To apply for a RILA scholarship, students are required to first complete the regular application procedure described above.
In addition to that, students should send a one page (max 400 words) essay on the theme of the course of their choice. (Essays must be anonymous, please do not put your name on your essay). Essays should be sent to info@rilarts.org in attachment to an e-mail message containing the student’s name, the course they are applying to, and a request for scholarship.
Applications for financial aid must be submitted in full by the financial aid deadline.
Please note that scholarship requests will not be evaluated until an application is complete with all required documents and fees.
For students from St. John’s College
Since its foundation in 2008, RILA has developed in unofficial partnership with St. John’s College. The origin and inspiration for RILA emerged from discussions among a group of St. John’s faculty about the powerful experience Johnnies might have reading and studying together, immersed in all the art, architecture, culture, and history that Rome has to offer. The academic director and co-founder of RILA, Gabe Pihas, is in fact a former tutor of the Annapolis campus. St. John’s Collge Santa Fe and RILA are currently expanding this partnership.
Students enrolled at St. John’s Santa Fe may be able to use the Global Pathways fellowships towards RILA summer programs. In the past, generous Pathways fellowships have covered costs for most or all of a student’s tuition. Please check with your administration on campus. Unfortunately, St. John’s Annapolis currently does not grant Pathways fellowships towards study abroad programs.
Every year the Ahmanson Foundation offers four scholarships for the full amount of tuition for a RILA summer program, to four St. John’s students. The scholarships are restricted, and students from other colleges cannot apply to them. The scholarships are awarded to St. John’s students in need of financial aid, who also show academic excellence through their essay and transcripts. To apply for an Ahmanson scholarship, simply follow the same procedure described above for RILA scholarships. Your application for financial aid will automatically be considered for both scholarships.
Given the limited number of scholarships available, our policy is not to grant funds to students who receive aid towards RILA tuition from their home institution or any other organization. Therefore, St. John’s students who have been awarded a Pathways fellowship will not be considered for an Ahmanson scholarship or a RILA scholarship.
For students from UT Austin
RILA and UT Austin have worked in partnership for a number of years. There is a formal arrangement for the recognition of RILA credits at UT. UT students will receive credits for either of RILA summer programs, Beauty and the Sacred or Empire and the Soul.
A number of students from UT each year have been able to cover part of the costs for a RILA summer program through generous scholarships offered by UT. We encourage you to contact the study abroad office at UT, as well as your department contact person, in order to find out about funding available to you.
We have a special partnership with the Jefferson Center at UT, but majors from other departments are also eligible for UT scholarships for RILA.
