The fifteenth edition of the Erasmus Student Network survey reveals how access to Erasmus+ and the quality of student mobility could be improved further.
The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) published the 15th edition of its annual survey (see also SwissCore article). ESN is one of the biggest student associations in Europe, representing a community of nearly 15’000 members active across more than 40 countries. The organisation aims to foster favourable conditions for international mobility and exchange for students worldwide. The main purpose of ESN’s annual survey is to explore issues related to mobility and to produce policy-actionable insights which help improve the Erasmus+ programme design from a student perspective.
Nearly 23’000 answers were collected online for this year’s edition, which focuses on increasing participation in exchange programmes and the quality of mobility stays. In line with the European Commission’s (EC) stated goal of making Erasmus+ more inclusive, the scope of respondents encompassed, for the first time, not only students on mobility and those doing a full degree abroad but also non-mobility students to better analyse remaining hurdles to broader programme participation. While most mobile respondents reported on their experience with the Erasmus+ programme, for the first time ever, the survey also included a small part of students (2.51%) taking part in the Swiss European Mobility Programme (SEMP) as well as in the UK’s Turing scheme (0.62%).
The report shows that going abroad for one semester (4-6 months) during a degree programme remains the most popular form of mobility. In trying to understand which factors encourage students to go abroad, the survey identified five main incentives: on the academic side, a student’s anticipated ability to speak the language in which courses are taught at the host institution, being able to get courses recognised at their home institution, as well as the academic reputation of the host institution matter most. In terms of the surrounding environment, the affordability of the host city, along with opportunities to engage with the local community during courses, ranked highest. At the same time, short-term international stays, such as study visits during high school, seem to encourage longer mobility stays during tertiary education. Students participating in the survey indicated that prior to their departure, they mostly required information on available financial support and courses at the host institution, help with the application process, details on available programmes, and exchanges with previous mobile students. After the conclusion of their stay, most but not all credits achieved during an exchange tend to be recognised at home (on average, 28 out of 30 credits). However, servicing an increasing demand for mobility and navigating complex exchange programme frameworks, along with course recognition present considerable difficulties for participating institutions. Perhaps related to these complexities, the survey also reports on dropping satisfaction rates of outgoing students with both their home and host institutions.
This year’s survey results also show how students grapple with the realities of independently living abroad: Rising costs of living and the challenge of finding affordable accommodation are some of the most relevant issues encountered by mobile students. Immersion in local university communities also seems to be difficult, as respondents mostly indicated engaging with other exchange students from their own or foreign countries during their stay. This goes hand in hand with low engagement rates of exchange students outside of the host institution, as rates for volunteering (9.52%) and part-time jobs (6.57%) during exchange remain low. Nevertheless, respondents reported that their exchange fostered a stronger feeling of connection to Europe and the world, particularly to the EU, which indicates that the programmes attain one of their main goals of fostering a more open-minded and globally oriented youth. One notable result of the survey is further that flights remain the most popular travel choice (71.04%) among exchange students, motivated by relatively low costs and being timesaving. This strongly contrasts the EC’s ongoing efforts to push for greener travel during exchange stays, for instance, through financially encouraging travel with low-emission means of transport in the current Erasmus+ programme.
The report closes with a number of recommendations, including the need for higher education institutions to diversify their mobility offer, reintegrate students after their return from abroad, and expand their service and support offerings to better meet student’s expectations and needs, for instance by offering help with finding accommodation or anticipating credit recognition. A higher budget for mobility programmes is thus just one puzzle piece on how to make Erasmus+ and other mobility programmes more inclusive and accessible to all students. More active involvement of student representatives at the university and national level may help to integrate their demands better into programme design and implementation.