L´Università Commerciale "Luigi Bocconi" was established in 1902 with a generous endowment from Ferdinando Bocconi, a wealthy merchant who meant to commemorate his son who disappeared in battle overseas. Bocconi thus became the first Italian institution of higher education to grant a degree in economics.

For a century, Bocconi has played a leading role in Italy´s social and economic modernization, by remaining true to its founding values of being a major research university, democratic and open to the world, as well as financially and politically independent. Bocconi´s teaching methods aim not only at transferring knowledge, but also at developing the students´ ability to select and acquire information from various sources. Bocconi encourages a multidisciplinary approach to study and research, made possible by the wide variety of course offerings available at the University, thereby promoting versatile and modular student-determined education paths.

Bocconi is located in downtown Milan, the design and fashion capital of the world. Milan is home to the Italian stock exchange and most of the country’s important corporations are headquartered here. Milan is also world famous for its football (soccer) games. The breathtaking 500 year-old Duomo is one of the world's largest, most striking cathedrals (and the world’s 4th largest Church), while Milan's art galleries, many housed in former palaces, are home to a host of significant works that include da Vinci's Last Supper.