More than 213,000 students received 'Erasmus' grants, the EU grants for study and training abroad, during the 2009/10 academic year. This means a new record and 7.4% increase on the previous year's figure. Erasmus is the world's most successful student exchange programme and, on current trends, the EU will reach its target of supporting 3 million European students by 2012/13 since the programme's launch in 1987.

Of the total number of students supported through Erasmus in 2009/10, 178,000 spent part of their degree programme abroad at a university or other higher education institution in one of 32 countries then participating in the Erasmus initiative (27 Member States, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey. Switzerland became the 33rd country to join Erasmus this year). The three most popular destinations for students in 2009/10 were Spain, France and the United Kingdom. Spain sent the largest number of students abroad, followed by France and Germany.

Learning mobility is a key objective of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs and the focus of the Commission's 'Youth on the Move' initiative which builds on the success of Erasmus. Recently, the Commission unveiled plans for a new European target aimed at increasing the overall level of student mobility to least 20%. In addition, a recent Eurobarometer survey found that many students are thwarted in their ambition to study or train abroad due to a lack of funding. Studying or training abroad helps young people to develop skills which employers value, from language learning and greater inter-cultural awareness to leadership and adaptability. Moreover, Erasmus students tend to be more willing to work abroad later in life.

An estimated 10% of European students are currently studying or training abroad as part of their higher education; 4% of them receive an Erasmus grant. More figures shows that 61% of Erasmus students were female in 2009/10 and the EU invested €415 million in Erasmus the same year. However, demand strongly exceeds the availability of Erasmus grants in most participating countries. A study carried out for the European Parliament in 2010 stated that only 24% of non-Erasmus students reported not being interested in a study programme abroad.

Erasmus has also helped to make higher education in Europe more international and helped to trigger improvements in course quality, comparability and transparency. Furthermore, 38,000 grants were awarded to university staff and teachers to teach or receive training abroad, 4% more than in the previous year.