THE ERASMUS PROGRAMME CELEBRATES ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY
The ERASMUS programme was launched in June 1987 and 3244 participated in its
first academic year. Now, more than 150 000 people benefit each year from the
programme. The Commission and the 31 participating countries will celebrate its
20th anniversary throughout the year 2007.
The ERASMUS programme, which is arguably one of the best-known Community
actions, encourages student and teacher mobility, and promotes transnational
cooperation projects among universities across Europe. The scheme currently
covers nine out of every ten European higher education establishments. It was
named after Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466 – 1536), who was a Dutch humanist and
theologian.
ERASMUS has developed beyond just being an educational programme. It gives
many European university students the chance of living for the first time in a
foreign country, and it has reached the status of a social and cultural
phenomenon. Well over 1.5 million students have so far benefited from Erasmus
grants, and the European Commission hopes to reach a total of 3 million by 2012.
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