A quarter of students currently on Erasmus programmes have had their study experiences cut short by the coronavirus emergency. A report by the Erasmus Students Network (ESN) discovered that some sending or receiving universities decided to terminate or postpone the programmes, while in other cases students took the decision themselves or by order of national institutions.
Just under 65 percent of students said that their mobility programme is going ahead, including through the use of online learning. In fact, 40 percent of students returned to their home countries while an equal number chose to stay in the destination city during the crisis. Four percent of students indicated they wanted to go back but were unable to.
In the meantime, uncertainty over study grants is growing as many students say they do not know whether they will be able to keep the disbursements or will be required to give it back.
The president of the ESN, Kostis Giannidis, argued that students should be given their allocated funds in full: “Students still have to face a lot of costs, like accommodation, for example. Many had to sign six months contracts so, even if they left earlier, they still have to pay rent”.
A fifth of students taking part in the survey have been informed that they will lose the grants with seven percent required to return any money received so far. Eleven percent will keep the full amount, but the remaining 65 percent of the Erasmus population are still in the dark over their grants.
Alena Tegovska, team leader at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC), urged universities to damped the impact on students and said that the European Commission will give higher education institutions “as much flexibility as possible” to protect students from precarious situations.
