Student accommodation
Erasmus
Erasmus is the European Union programme that promotes and funds academic mobility: it lets university students spend between three and twelve months studying in another European country. It began in 1987, is named after Erasmus of Rotterdam and since 2014 has been called Erasmus+.
Also known asErasmus+ · Erasmus Programme · Erasmus exchange · Erasmus student
What it means for a residence
The programme started in 1987 as an exchange for university students, driven by the student association AEGEE, and since 2014 Erasmus+ has brought education, training, youth and sport together in a single EU programme; the current cycle runs from 2021 to 2027. In Spain, the University Student Statute provides that each mobility student has an academic tutor with whom they sign their learning agreement (art. 17.2).
For a residence, an Erasmus student is an international student with a calendar of their own: they arrive at the start of the academic year or halfway through, stay for a semester or a year and leave while others carry on. That frees up places mid-year and means language, arrival and departure for short stays have to be sorted.
Worth knowing
The grant does not come with a room. Mobility grants help pay for accommodation and living costs at the destination (University Student Statute, art. 16.5), but each student looks for their own room, often on their own. For a residence these are one-semester stays asking for a place on the same dates as full-year residents: it is worth deciding beforehand whether to accept them and on what terms.
Sources
Related terms
- Academic yearThe academic year is the period of classes and exams in a university year. In Spain it generally runs from September to June, with two semesters and exams in January or February and in June, and it is the unit in which places in a student residence are usually contracted.
- International studentAn international student is someone who takes all or part of their education in a country other than their own. In a Spanish residence that covers both someone here for a whole degree and someone on an exchange semester, and with them come a different language, paperwork and calendar.