The EU Erasmus+ programme has been a model of success for 35 years: since its launch on 15 June 1987, Erasmus has enabled around a million German students to travel to another European country. More than twelve million Europeans in total have taken part in Erasmus. There are 350 German higher education institutions that participate in the programme.

‘Erasmus+ symbolises a vibrant, young and dynamic Europe. It builds bridges between people, and thus also between the countries of the European Union. A million students from Germany have benefited from Erasmus to gain valuable experience in another country, and they have frequently established lifelong networks’, said DAAD President Professor Joybrato Mukherjee in Bonn. ‘Erasmus+ bonds the younger European generation in an emotional and intellectual manner. In this sense, Erasmus is also a peace programme, and I’m convinced that this objective is now more important than ever.’

‘The Erasmus+ programme has constantly evolved since it began as an exchange programme for European students. The European mobility programmes for students, trainees, pupils and young people are today united under the Erasmus+ umbrella. Erasmus+ therefore has an impact across society,' explains Dr Stephan Geifes, Director of the National Agency for EU Higher Education Cooperation at the DAAD (NA DAAD). ‘Virtually all German higher education institutions participate in the Erasmus+ programme for student and trainee exchange. This year alone, the NA DAAD can provide a record budget of nearly 200 million euros to German HEIs.’

Its 35 years of existence is to be celebrated by means of a joint 2-euro commemorative coin, which will be issued throughout Europe from the first of July with a circulation of almost 40 million coins. This Erasmus+ coin is only the fifth commemorative coin to be simultaneously minted in all euro countries.

A programme for European cohesion

The current Erasmus programme (2021–2027) has an overall budget of more than 28 billion euros to support the EU Commission’s educational policy objectives, thereby increasing the attractiveness of Europe as a location for academic study and research. In the next few years, the NA DAAD will award around 1.4 billion euros directly to German higher education institutions. Within higher education, Erasmus+ is aimed at all students and all other members of higher education institutions for their study and internship stays. The new programme period places greater emphasis on promoting equal opportunities, inclusion, diversity, digital transformation and sustainability. It also rewards the use of sustainable modes of transport for travel outside Germany, and the subsidy rates have been increased.

Erasmus+: ‘enriching lives, opening minds’

Erasmus+ is the EU programme for education, training, youth and sport. It follows the motto ‘Enriching lives, opening minds’ to promote cooperation in all areas of education throughout Europe. Various programme lines give German higher education institutions the option of funding international exchange among their students and staff, establishing cooperation and partnership programmes and exploiting a wide-ranging institutional exchange between higher education institutions in Europe and worldwide. There are 33 countries that participate in the Erasmus programme: the 27 EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Northern Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey. The United Kingdom is admittedly no longer a programme country since Brexit, but it remains a partner country. It therefore remains a valid destination for mobility to be funded. 

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) acts as the national higher education authority for Erasmus in Germany. The DAAD is one of four national agencies that assume responsibility for implementing the Erasmus programme within higher education.