Schools in Rome: American and international options

Rome gives American families two real choices: an English-language private school with AP or IB, at Boston prep-school prices, or a free Italian public school where your kids come home fluent.

The short version

The American Overseas School of Rome (AOSR) runs Pre-K to Grade 12 on Via Cassia, with AP and the IB Diploma. Tuition for 2026-27 runs from €13,000 to €28,300 (about USD 14,500 to 31,600) a year [1].
Marymount International School Rome runs from age 2 to Grade 12 (plus an optional Grade 13), with IB and AP, at €13,900 to €28,000 (about USD 15,500 to 31,300) for 2026-27 [2].
St. Stephen's School is an IB school with day and boarding places. Day tuition for 2026-27 is €34,599 (about USD 38,600) [3].
Budget for one-time fees on top: €5,000 to €5,500 per family at AOSR and Marymount, and deposits at St. Stephen's.
Italian public schools are free. Enrollment for first-year classes happens online each winter. The window for 2026-27 ran January 13 to February 14, 2026 [4].

USD conversions use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of October 30, 2026 (EUR 1 = USD 1.1163) [5].

American and international schools

All three schools below publish their 2026-27 fees on their own websites, which is where these numbers come from. Fees rise most years, so check before you budget.

American Overseas School of Rome (AOSR)

AOSR sits at Via Cassia 811 in the north of the city, a nonprofit school running from Pre-Kindergarten (ages 3 and 4) through Grade 12 [1]. High schoolers can take Advanced Placement courses (AP exams cost €150 each) or the IB Diploma Program (an extra €1,500 a year) [1]. If your kids have friends back in a US public school, this is the closest thing in Rome to the same calendar and grade names.

AOSR, 2026-27	EUR per year	About USD
Pre-K (ages 3–4)	13,000	14,500
Kindergarten	17,500	19,500
Grades 1–3	21,000	23,400
Grades 4–5	21,500	24,000
Grades 6–8	24,200	27,000
Grades 9–10	27,500	30,700
Grade 11	28,000	31,300
Grade 12	28,300	31,600

New families also pay a one-time capital assessment fee of €5,500 (about USD 6,100), waived while you only have a Pre-K child, plus a €800 registration fee per new student (about USD 900) [1]. The bus costs €3,500 round trip (about USD 3,900) [1]. Lunch isn't included, except that it's free from Pre-K to Grade 3.

Marymount International School Rome

Marymount is an international school at Via di Villa Lauchli 180, in the north of Rome. It runs from Early Childhood (age 2) through Grade 12, with an optional Grade 13, and offers both IB and AP [2].

Marymount, 2026-27	EUR per year	About USD
Early Childhood	13,900	15,500
Kindergarten	17,750	19,800
Grades 1–5	21,000	23,400
Grades 6–8	23,900	26,700
Grades 9–12 (and optional 13)	28,000	31,300

One-time fees: a €5,000 family registration fee (about USD 5,600) and a €500 application fee per new student (about USD 560) [2]. Buses cost €3,500 round trip inside the GRA ring road and €3,700 outside it (about USD 3,900 and 4,100). Financial aid is limited and available on request [2].

St. Stephen's School

St. Stephen's is an English-language IB school with day students and boarders. For 2026-27, day tuition is €34,599 (about USD 38,600) and boarding brings the total to €57,141 (about USD 63,800) [3]. New students also pay a €2,500 capital assessment and a non-refundable €7,500 deposit (day) or €10,000 (boarding), plus a €1,000 IB administration fee [3]. That's the high end in Rome, but still less than a lot of New England boarding schools.

Others to look at

Rome has more international schools, including British, French and other national systems. We've only listed schools whose current fees we checked on their own sites. For anything else, ask for the fee sheet (and the year it applies to) before you visit.

How admissions work

Start early. Apply in the fall or winter before the school year you want, especially for Kindergarten and Grade 9.
Gather records. Two years of report cards, standardized test scores if you have them, teacher recommendations and any learning-support reports.
Ask about support needs. Learning support can cost extra. Marymount, for example, lists a separate charge if a one-to-one assistant is required [2].
Visit or call. Most schools offer tours and video calls for families still stateside.
Budget for the extras: bus, lunch, exam fees, trips and uniforms.

Heads-up: many employers that send families to Rome cover tuition. If you're negotiating a move, ask about it up front. It's often the biggest single line in the budget.

Italian public schools

Italian state schools are free, and kids of legal residents have the same right to attend as Italian kids. They teach in Italian, of course, which is the whole point for some families and a dealbreaker for others.

Stage	Italian name	Rough ages
Preschool	Scuola dell'infanzia	3–6
Elementary	Scuola primaria	6–11
Middle school	Scuola secondaria di primo grado	11–14
High school	Scuola secondaria di secondo grado (liceo, istituto tecnico, istituto professionale)	14–19

School is compulsory for ten years, starting at around age 6. High school students pick a track at 14: a liceo (classical, scientific, languages and more), a technical institute or a vocational institute.

Enrolling

First-year classes of elementary, middle and high school are enrolled online through the ministry's Piattaforma Unica. For 2026-27, the window opened January 13 and closed February 14, 2026 [4]. The ministry usually announces the next window late in the year.
Preschool (scuola dell'infanzia) enrollment is on paper, directly at the school [4].
Arriving mid-year? Foreign children can join an Italian school during the year. Contact the school or the Comune di Roma's education office with your child's passport, residence documents, codice fiscale and vaccination records.
Expect placement by age. Italian schools usually place kids by age, with Italian language support varying a lot by school.

Romans also use paritarie, private schools recognized by the state, many of them Catholic. Fees vary widely, and the schools set their own enrollment rules [4].

US college applications from Rome

Transcripts: AOSR and Marymount use US-style grades and AP; IB Diploma results are well known to US admissions offices. If your kid is in an Italian liceo, US colleges will see an Italian transcript, so ask the school for an English translation and a school profile.
Tests: SAT and ACT requirements vary by college. Check each school's policy and find a test center in Italy early.
In-state tuition: most states base it on where you're domiciled, not where you live now. Living in Rome can cost your kid in-state rates back home. Look up the rule for the state you left.
Financial aid: US citizens abroad can still file the FAFSA. You'll report income just as you would stateside, and foreign income counts.

For school recommendations and real-world reviews from other parents, try our community group for Americans in Italy.

Schools in Rome: American and international schools, Italian public schools, and what they cost