EU Students Training Abroad Collect Record Grants

DESPITE a record number of EU students receiving Erasmus grants to study or train abroad, UK students are noticeably reluctant to take up the opportunity according to figures released by the European Commission this week. During the 2009/10 academic year, more than 213,000 students received ‘Erasmus’ grants (a 7.4 per cent increase on the previous year), but only 11,723 of them were UK students.xa0 This compares with Spain who sent the largest number of students abroad (31,158), followed by France (30,213) and Germany (28,854). However, the UK was the third most popular destination for students (22,650), after Spain (35,389), France (26,141). Erasmus is the world’s most successful student exchange programme and, on current trends, the EU will reach its target of supporting 3 million European students by 2012/13 since the programme’s launch in 1987. The EU invested €415 million in Erasmus in 2009/10.“The latest figures speak for themselves: Erasmus is more popular than ever and I am committed to securing more resources for it in future. Studying or training abroad opens doors to personal development and job opportunities so we are right to be ambitious when it comes to investing in our young people,” said Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth. The Erasmus programme is open to all students studying at higher education institutions holding an Erasmus University Charter in 33 participating countries (27 EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey, Croatia and, from this summer, Switzerland). ]]>