Standard degree offered by this Italian city (5)
I believe the answer is:
parma
'this italian city' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'standard degree' is the wordplay.
'standard' becomes 'par' (standard of play in golf).
'degree' becomes 'MA' (Master of Arts is a type of degree).
'par'+'ma'='PARMA'
'offered by' is the link.
(Other definitions for parma that I've seen before include "Italian city known for ham and violets" , "It. ham city; its Charterhouse, Stendhal" , "Italian city famous for cheese and ham" , "Italian city producing cured ham" , "Here in Italy" .)