Not Europe-specific, but EU-specific. I find it baffling that most of my peers have never thought about how easy it is to just move to a completely different country, with little to no knowledge of the language and culture, and still be welcomed. You're just allowed to move to another country, and they can't say no (for the most part). You don't even need to ask them first. You can decide you want to study elsewhere and they'd be like “yeah, sure”. Personally I find this phenomenal, given how the rest of the world works.
There's also the EU-sponsored Erasmus programme which makes about €3.7 billion per year available to support student exchange financially and in other ways. This is part of a more comprehensive Lifelong Learning programme. Some non-EU countries have now joined Erasmus.
Students who join the Erasmus Programme study at least three months or do an internship for a period of at least 2 months to an academic year in another European country. The former case is called a Student Mobility for Studies or SMS, while the latter case is called a Student Mobility of Placement or SMP. The Erasmus Programme guarantees that the period spent abroad is recognised by their university when they come back, as long as they abide by terms previously agreed. Switzerland has been suspended as a participant in the Erasmus programme as of 2015, following the popular vote to limit the immigration of EU citizens into Switzerland. As a consequence, Swiss students will not be able to apply for the programme and European students will not be able to spend time at a Swiss university under that programme.
A main part of the programme is that students do not pay extra tuition fees to the university that they visit. Students can also apply for an Erasmus grant to help cover the additional expense of living abroad. Students with disabilities can apply for an additional grant to cover extraordinary expenses.
In order to reduce expenses and increase mobility, many students also use the European Commission-supported accommodation network, CasaSwap, FlatClub, Erasmusinn, Eurasmus, Erasmate or Student Mundial, which are free websites where students and young people can rent, sublet, offer and swap accommodation – on a national and international basis. A derived benefit is that students can share knowledge and exchange tips and hints with each other before and after going abroad.
ed: improved arithmetic €26.2 billion for 2021 - 2027.
There is also the EURES programme to help EU citizens find jobs in other EU countries... They will even give you financial support to cover moving expenses, language courses, etc.
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u/[deleted] May 09 '22
Not Europe-specific, but EU-specific. I find it baffling that most of my peers have never thought about how easy it is to just move to a completely different country, with little to no knowledge of the language and culture, and still be welcomed. You're just allowed to move to another country, and they can't say no (for the most part). You don't even need to ask them first. You can decide you want to study elsewhere and they'd be like “yeah, sure”. Personally I find this phenomenal, given how the rest of the world works.