Students
(BRUSSELS) – More than 10 million young people have taken part in Erasmus, the EU’s programme to support and strengthen education, training, youth and sport in Europe, according to its annual report, out Tuesday.
Erasmus+ has become for our younger generations a gateway to Europe and to the world,” said Education Commissioner Mariya Gabriel: “It is one of the EU’s most tangible achievements: uniting people across the continent, creating a sense of belonging and solidarity, raising qualifications, and improving the prospects of participants.”
The 2018 annual report on Erasmus+ shows that over the last three decades, more than 10 million people have participated in what turned out to be a life-changing experience for many of them.
With a budget of 2.8 billion, a 10% funding increase compared to 2017, 2018 was yet another record year. Erasmus+ funded more than 23,500 projects and overall, it supported the mobility of over 850,000 students, apprentices, teachers, and youth workers in 2018. Nearly 10% of the 470,000 students, trainees, and staff in higher education who received a grant during the 2017/2018 academic year, travelled to and from partner countries across the world.
In addition to university students and staff, Erasmus+ supported 40,000 teachers and school staff, 148,000 vocational education and training learners, 8,400 adult education staff, and 155,000 young people and youth workers.
The programme also financed 199 sports projects, 118 of which were run by grassroots sport organisations. Erasmus+ supported the annual European Week of Sport, which saw unprecedented success with more than 50,000 events across Europe.
Since 2018, Erasmus+ also supports the initiative to make the European Education Area a reality by 2025. The European Universities initiative helps higher education institutions to form strong new alliances.
The current Erasmus+ programme, running from 2014 to 2020, has a budget of 14.7 billion and will provide opportunities for 3.7% of young people in the EU to study, train, gain work experience, and volunteer abroad. The geographical scope of the programme has expanded from 11 countries in 1987 to 34 in 2020 (which includes all 28 EU Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey). The programme is also open to partner countries across the world.
In May 2018, the Commission presented its proposal for a new Erasmus programme, seeking to double the budget to 30 billion in the EU’s next long-term budget for the period 2021-2027. The aim is to make the programme even more inclusive, more international and accessible to people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
Erasmus+ background guide
Erasmus+ Annual Report 2018, general and country-specific factsheets
