About the Program
The Erasmus program is a European Union initiative designed to encourage cooperation among higher education institutions. It provides grant funding to enable higher education institutions to develop and implement joint projects and to facilitate short-term student and staff exchanges.
In addition, it aims to develop the higher education system in line with the needs of the business world and to increase the employability of university graduates by fostering stronger relationships and collaboration between higher education institutions and the business community.
What Is the Program’s Purpose?
The program’s objective is to improve the quality of higher education in Europe and strengthen its European dimension. The Erasmus program seeks to achieve this objective by promoting international cooperation among universities; facilitating the exchange of students and educators across Europe; and contributing to the academic recognition of studies and degrees earned in participating countries, as well as to the development of transparency. In a Europe that offers higher-quality higher education, graduates will be better equipped and better able to meet the expectations of the business world.
Through the mobility opportunities it offers, the program helps break down prejudices in how European peoples perceive one another within higher education circles. Through the Erasmus program, more than 1.5 million higher education students have spent a period of their academic lives in another European country since 1987, gaining the opportunity to get to know the people and culture of that country. As of 2012, the program aims to have 3 million students participate in the Erasmus program.
Who Can Benefit from the Program and How?
The Erasmus program is open to higher education institutions in the 27 European Union member states—which are part of the Lifelong Learning Program—as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway (which are members of the European Economic Area but not the European Union), and Turkey, which is a candidate country for EU membership. For all activities carried out under the Erasmus program, at least one of the participating parties must be an institution from an EU member state.
Universities, institutes, academies, and similar institutions recognized as higher education institutions by the relevant official authorities of their countries may apply to the Education, Audiovisual, and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) — the relevant unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education and Culture —EACEA), which is the relevant unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education and Culture, and are granted the Erasmus University Charter (EUC), their students and staff may benefit from the Erasmus program. Institutions wishing to organize student internship mobility must obtain an Extended EUC.
Effective as of the 2010–2011 academic year, individuals participating in Student and Staff Mobility activities at institutions holding an EUC must:
be citizens of the Republic of Turkey, or
be citizens of other countries but be enrolled as students at a school, vocational school, higher education institution, or adult education institution in Turkey, or be employed in Turkey in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, or be residing in Turkey.
Since the 2007/2008 academic year—the first year of the Lifelong Learning Program—more than 2,000 higher education institutions across Europe have been eligible to participate in the Erasmus program. Erasmus grants awarded will remain valid until 2013, unless circumstances arise that require their cancellation. Institutions may apply starting from the date applications open, in accordance with the deadline announced by the Commission each year.
For more information: http://www.eu.yildiz.edu.tr/ab/index.php
