Figures released today reveal that more than 3 million students have benefited from EU Erasmus grants since the exchange scheme’s launch in 1987. The statistics, covering the 2011-2012 academic year, also show that the programme enabled more than 250 000 Erasmus students a new record to spend part of their higher education studies abroad or to take up a job placement with a foreign company to boost their employability. More than 46 500 academic and administrative staff also received support from Erasmus to teach or train abroad, an experience designed to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the 33 countries which participate in the scheme (EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey).
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Among the countries participating in Erasmus, the three most popular destinations for students in 2011-2012 were Spain, France and Germany. Spain also sent the largest number of students abroad, followed by Germany and France.
Nearly 205 000 students, around 80% of the total supported by Erasmus in 2011-12 opted to spend an average of six months abroad at a university or other higher education institution, as part of their degree programme. The number choosing the study option increased by 7.5% compared with the previous year. With a growth rate of 18% on the previous year, job placements in companies continue to be increasingly popular. In 2011-12, one in five Erasmus students, almost 50 000 in total, chose this option.
Demand continued to exceed the availability of Erasmus grants in most countries. The average monthly Erasmus grant, designed to cover part of the additional costs of living abroad and travel, was 252. The grant, which has remained stable for the past three years, is topped up in some countries by national, regional or institutional funds.
Erasmus+, the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport, due for launch in January 2014, will build on the legacy of Erasmus by offering opportunities for
4 million people to study, train, teach or volunteer abroad by 2020. The programme is expected to have a budget of around 14.5 billion for 2014-2020 – 40% more than funding for the current education and training mobility programmes. Erasmus+ replaces the current Lifelong Learning Programme (Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, Comenius, Grundtvig), as well as Youth in Action, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Alfa, Edulink and the bilateral cooperation programme with industrialised countries.
Background
In its strategy on the modernisation of higher education, the Commission highlighted the need to provide more opportunities for students to gain skills through study or training abroad. The EU target for overall student mobility is at least 20% by the end of the decade. Currently, around 10% of EU students study or train abroad with the support of Erasmus or other public and private means. Around 4.5% receive an Erasmus grant.
The Erasmus Student Network has selected students from each participating country who went abroad with Erasmus in 2012-2013 to represent the 3 million milestone. All say that their Erasmus experience went beyond their expectations, enriching both their personal and professional life. Many former Erasmus alumni, including some well-known faces in Europe today (see Annex 5), have expressed similar sentiments.
Erasmus is not just a funding scheme for student and staff exchanges: it also supports joint projects, summer schools and networks, with the aim of improving how education is delivered so that it meets the needs of the labour market and society as a whole.
Erasmus programme in 2011-12: the figures explained (EC Memo)
