With its focus on languages, adaptability, inter-cultural awareness and leadership, Erasmus provides young people with vital skills to boost their employability and personal development. Since it began in 1987, the programme has provided more than 2.5 million European students with the opportunity to go abroad to study at a higher education institution or for a job placement in a company. On current trends, the European Union will reach its target of supporting 3 million Erasmus students by 2012-13.

The three most popular destinations for students in 2010-11 were Spain, France and the Germany. Spain also sent the largest number of students abroad, followed by France and Germany. Luxembourg sent the largest number of students abroad as a proportion of the national student population. The 2010-11 Erasmus budget dedicated to student and staff mobility was €470 million.

Of the total number of students supported in 2010-11, around 190 000 chose to spend up to 12 months of their degree programme abroad at a university or other higher education institution in one of 32 countries then participating in Erasmus (27 Member States, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey. Switzerland became the 33rd country to join Erasmus as from 2011-12). The number of students choosing the study option increased by 7.2% compared with 2009-10. Job placements in companies abroad have been supported through Erasmus since 2007 and are increasingly popular. In 2010-11, one in six Erasmus students, nearly 41 000 in total, chose this option. This represents a 15% increase on the previous year.

Demand strongly exceeds the availability of Erasmus grants in most participating countries. The average monthly Erasmus grant (designed to cover part of the additional costs of living abroad and travel) was €250, a small decrease on the previous year (€254), which allowed more students to benefit from the programme.

Source: European Commission