Erasmus Programme

European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students

ERASMUS is the EU's flagship education and training programme enabling 200.000 students to study and work abroad each year. In addition, it funds co-operation between higher education institutions across Europe. The programme not only supports students, but also professors and business staff who want to teach abroad, as well as helping university staff to receive training.

Many studies show that a period spent abroad not only enriches students' lives in the academic and professional fields, but can also improve language learning, intercultural skills, self-reliance and self-awareness. Their experiences give students a better sense of what it means to be a European citizen. In addition, many employers highly value such a period abroad, which increases the students' employability and job prospects.

Staff exchanges have similar beneficial effects, both for the people participating and for the home and host institutions.

Erasmus in the words of students

• "I realised that the experience made a whole new person of me and that I would never look at the world and Europe, my home, as I did before."
• "ERASMUS life for me is about opportunities. Every opportunity I had, I took it and I thank ERASMUS for it."
• "It is true – when you're in ERASMUS, you find out a lot about yourself."
• "ERASMUS is a lot more than a studying experience. For me it is a way to look at the world with new eyes, to feel and discover new emotions and learn what is not written in the textbooks."
• "If I look at my experience from a distance, I can say that I would definitely do it again, and that apart from (or maybe because of) minor problems along the way, this semester has made me a stronger and more enthusiastic person!"

Participation

There are currently more than 4,000 higher education institutions participating in Erasmus across the 31 countries involved in the Socrates programme and over 2.2 million students have already taken part.

Requirements

To participate in the Erasmus Programme students must be studying for a degree or diploma at a tertiary-level institution and must have completed their first year. They also have to be a citizen of one of the countries in the wider Lifelong Learning Programme.

Details

Students who join the Erasmus Programme study for a period of at least 3 months to an academic year in another European country. The Erasmus Programme guarantees that the period spent abroad is recognised by their university when they come back as long as they abide by terms previously agreed.

A main part of the Programme is that students do not pay extra tuition fees to the university that they visit. Students can also apply for an Erasmus grant to help cover the additional expense of living abroad. Students with disabilities can also apply for additional grant to cover extraordinary expenses. The disability dimension is a part of EU work to promote opportunities for the disabled.

In order to reduce expenses and increase mobility, many students also use the European Commission-supported accommodation network, CasaSwap, which is a free website where students and young people can rent, sublet, offer and swap accommodation - on a national and international basis. A derived benefit is that students can share knowledge and exchange tips and hints with each other before and after going abroad.

A European success

Few, if any, programmes launched by the European Union have had a similar Europe-wide reach as the ERASMUS Programme. The vast majority of European universities take part in ERASMUS. More than 2.2 million students have participated since it started in 1987, as well as 250 000 higher education teachers and other staff since 1997 (this type of exchange was also expanded further in 2007.

The annual budget is in excess of 450 million euro; more than 4 000 higher education institutions in 33 countries participate, and more are waiting to join.

The European Community programme in the field of higher education

• ERASMUS seeks to enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of higher education by encouraging transnational cooperation between universities, boosting European mobility and improving the transparency and full academic recognition of studies and qualifications throughout the Union.
• ERASMUS consists of many different activities; student and teacher exchanges, joint development of study programmes (Curriculum Development), international intensive programmes, thematic networks between departments and faculties across Europe, language courses (EILC), European credit transfer system (ECTS).
• ERASMUS action is targeted at higher education institutions and their students and staff in all 27 Member States of the European Union, the three countries of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), and Turkey.
• Currently 2199 higher education institutions in 31 countries are participating in ERASMUS. Since the creation of ERASMUS in 1987, 1.2 million students have benefited of an ERASMUS study period abroad. The ERASMUS budget for the year 2004 is more than € 187.5 million.
• Overall responsibility for implementing ERASMUS lies with the European Commission (Directorate-General Education and Culture: Directorate B; Unit 4)

The "Erasmus experience"

For many European students, the Erasmus Programme is their first time living and studying abroad. Hence, it has become a cultural phenomenon and is very popular among European students, going on to become the subject of movies such as French film L'Auberge espagnole, which, it is claimed, has led to an increase in potential Erasmus students in Barcelona, Spain.

The Programme fosters not only learning and understanding of the host country, but also a sense of community among students from different countries and it can be hard to know what one might expect. The Erasmus experience is considered both a time for learning as well as a chance to socialize. "Erasmus parties" are known in university cities across Europe for being boisterous, multilingual events.

Tutors are often keen for students of subjects, such as Politics or International Relations, to participate in Erasmus. It is seen as a great opportunity to study abroad while not having the expense of studying outside the European Union as the grant available to Erasmus students are not available to those opting to leave the continent to study. Simply having Erasmus on one's curriculum vitae is seen as being a very positive thing because that one word explains the whole experience of studying abroad. Therefore, those who partake in the Programme are often considered more employable than those who do not.

Some academics have speculated that former Erasmus students will prove to be a powerful force in creating a pan-European identity. The political scientist Stefan Wolff, for example, has argued that "Give it 15, 20 or 25 years, and Europe will be run by leaders with a completely different socialization from those of today", referring to the so-called 'Erasmus generation'.

Useful Links

• Erasmusu, the social network for Erasmus and exchange students
• In Wikipedia, The Erasmus Programme
• European Commission Website