This paper studies the relationship between net social welfare spending and university enrolment rates among low-income students over the 1983-1996 period in Italy. Students enrolled at universities located in the south of Italy are used here as a proxy for low-income students. A first quantitative examination shows that enrolment among southern students is strongly correlated to net social welfare spending. This would suggest that the combination of increased tuition and fees and cutbacks in social welfare expenditure could undermine the access to university education among low-income students.