International

Popularity of Erasmus program grows 8.5 percent

10 mei 2012

The Erasmus exchange program of the European Union, is growing rapidly. In 2010-2011, the number of students that went on EU exchange has increased 8.5 percent compared to last year. This year 231,000 European students benefitted from an Erasmus grant.

With an Erasmus grant students can go to study at an higher education institutions abroad. In the Netherlands, the number of students using an Erasmus grant increased with 11 percent. The Netherlands has a good balance between incoming and outgoing student exchanges: only Slovenia and Austria have a better balance.

Each student abroad receives a monthly EU grant to cover additional costs of living abroad and travel. The demand for grants is greater than the EU can offer: despite the 460-million-euros budget, the program can not fund all requests.

Last year, the most popular destinations were France, Spain and Germany. The share of student that went to study abroad for three to twelve months grew by 7.2 percent. In additon of a study grant, the program offers students the opportunity to go abroad to gain work experience in companies or other organisations. This type of exchange increased with 15 percent. These two growth rates together make an average increase of 8.5 percent.