Istituto tecnico economico (literally technical economic institute) is a type of secondary school in Italy which is designed to give students the skills to progress to any higher educational institution.
Students can attend an istituto tecnico economico after successfully completing middle school (scuola media).
The curriculum is devised by the Ministry of Education and emphasises the link between the economy, administration, management and the law.
The course is divided into two specializing paths:
The education given offers both a wide theoretical education and a technical specialization in a specific field of studies (e.g.: economy, humanities, administration, law and accountancy), often integrated with a six months internship in a company, association or university, during the fifth and last year of study.
Students typically study for five years and attend the school from the age of 14 to 19. At the end of the fifth year all students sit for the esame di Stato, a final examination which gave access to every university course.
A student is called studente (male) and studentessa (female) are also in common use. Teachers are known as professore (male) or professoressa (female).