Record-breaking number of students take part in Erasmus programme | WPN World People News

Erasmus keeps getting bigger and better! In 2012-2013 a record-breaking 270,000 students took part in one of the popular EU programmes for studying or training abroad. And the numbers are expected to rise even further in the future as the European Parliament backed the new and improved Erasmus programme that kicks off this September. What are the most popular destinations and which students are the most active in the programme? Read on.

More and more students take the opportunity to study in another part of Europe.

Since being launched in 1987, the Erasmus programme has been an undisputable succes by enabling some three million students to study abroad. Over the last academic year a new record was set when 270,000 students benefitted from EU grants to study or train in another country, an increase of 6% compared to the year before.

One in five students (55,000 students) opted to take part in job placements in foreign companies. This was 16% more than in the previous period.

The most popular destinations proved to be Spain, Germany and France. The countries that sent the highest percentage of its student population to another member state were Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Finland and Latvia. However, in absolute terms Spain saw the highest number of students - nearly 40,000 - venture across the border, followed by Germany, Italy and Poland.

The average Erasmus grant, designed to cover part of the costs of living abroad and travel, was €272 per month, a 9% increase on the previous year (€250). The grant is topped up in some countries by national, regional or institutional funds.

Source: European Parliament