What is Erasmus ? Who can participate it?

ERASMUS, aka European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students, is the name of European student exchange programme since 1987.

Aims of ERASMUS programme:

*improving the quality and increasing the amount of student and teacher mobility throughout Europe, and achieving at least 3 million student and teacher exchanges by the end of 2012.

*improving the quality and increasing the amount of multilateral cooperation between higher education institutions in Europe.

*improving and increasing cooperation between higher education institutions and enterprises.

*spreading innovation and new pedagogic practice and supports between universities in Europe.

Participation and Requirements:

There are currently 2,199 institutions participating in ERASMUS across the 31 countries involved in the Socrates programme and over 1.6 million students^[2] have already taken part.

To participate in the ERASMUS students must be studying for a degree or diploma at a tertiary-level institution and must have completed their 1st year. They also have to be a citizen of one of the countries in the wider Lifelong Learning Programme.

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.

An important 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 named CasaSwap, which is a free website where students can rent, sublet, offer and swap accommodation - on a national and international basis. Another benefit is that students share knowledge and exchange tips and hints with each other before and after going abroad.

For more information visit http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc80_en.htm