The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) surveyed around 3,300 students about their experiences during semesters abroad during the Corona pandemic. Despite the introduction of digital teaching and semesters abroad during the pandemic, the vast majority of respondents rated their time at a foreign university as positive and innovative.

"For students' stays abroad, the Corona pandemic brought with it a variety of challenges and difficulties. At the same time, it triggered a dynamic for new developments, such as the implementation of virtual formats in teaching and student mobility. It is gratifying that many students from German universities have taken this risk and have had positive experiences abroad despite the difficult framework conditions - regardless of whether they were physically or virtually at the university," said DAAD President Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee.

New Forms of Semester Abroad

The current survey shows that virtual stays have developed during the Corona pandemic as an alternative to the previously predominantly physical study stay at a host university. In the first three "Corona semesters" (summer semester 2020 to summer semester 2021), around one third of the 3,300 respondents opted for a purely virtual (seven percent) or a partially virtual semester abroad (24 percent). The purely virtual variant was completed entirely from a home computer, while the partially virtual variant was combined with a shorter physical stay at a foreign host university. 
The proportion of teaching done virtually abroad was also high, according to the respondents: Regardless of the type of stay on site, 80 per cent of courses were implemented in virtual or hybrid formats. The students were similarly satisfied with virtual teaching (71 percent) as with physical teaching (78 percent). In the overall assessment of their study stay, 83 percent of the students were satisfied or very satisfied with their stay abroad. Despite the Corona pandemic, this figure only decreased by seven per cent compared to 2019. Looking to the future, a majority of the students surveyed recommend maintaining a combination of physical and virtual teaching at the foreign host universities.

Host countries: Focus on Europe 

When it came to host countries, the decision during the pandemic semesters fell overwhelmingly on countries in Europe, as host countries outside the continent were often inaccessible or difficult to reach. In the summer of 2020, entry restrictions to Erasmus+ programme countries were lifted, so 86 percent of respondents chose a host university in one of the 33 participating countries. The most popular host countries were also classic "Erasmus countries" such as France, Spain and Sweden.

Background

The student survey was conducted as part of the biennial surveys on the topic of "Recognition - (no) problem?" which have been conducted since 2007. In addition to the recognition of study achievements abroad, the current survey focused on experiences with virtual and semi-virtual types of mobility. The results of the entire student survey can be viewed online under the title "Studying abroad in times of Corona - experiences with physical and virtual study visits and the recognition of academic achievements".