Erasmus+ is the EU Programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sport for the period 2014-2020. The Erasmus+ Programme is designed to support Programme Countries' efforts to efficiently use the potential of Europe’s human and social capital, while confirming the principle of lifelong learning by linking support to formal, non-formal and informal learning throughout the education, training and youth fields.
The Programme also enhances the opportunities for cooperation and mobility with Partner Countries, notably in the fields of higher education and youth.
The Erasmus+ Programme builds on the achievements of more than 25 years of European programmes in the fields of education, training and youth, covering both an intra-European as well as an international cooperation dimension. Erasmus+ is the result of the integration of the following European programmes implemented by the Commission during the period 2007-2013.
These programmes have been supporting Actions in the fields of higher education (including its international dimension), vocational education and training, school education, adult education and youth (including its international dimension).
Erasmus+ aims at going beyond these programmes, by promoting synergies and cross-fertilisation throughout the different fields of education, training and youth, removing artificial boundaries between the various Actions and project formats, fostering new ideas, attracting new actors from the world of work and civil society and stimulating new forms of cooperation. Erasmus+ aims at becoming a more effective instrument to address the real needs in terms of human and social capital development in Europe and beyond.
It is therefore crucial that the new Programme is associated with a strong brand name that is widely recognised. For this reason, all the Actions and activities supported under the Programme will have to be communicated first and foremost by using the "Erasmus+" brand name.
Based on this, it can be also said that Erasmus+ enables higher education students, teachers and institutions in 31 European countries to study for part of their degree in another country. Students who join the Erasmus+ Programme do an internship for a period of at least 3 months to an academic year in another European country. The Erasmus+ Programme guarantees that the period spent abroad is recognized by their university when they come back as long as they abide by terms previously agreed.
There continues to be a language barrier between the countries of Europe. Courses may be given to ERASMUS+ students in the native language of the university or in English. A main part of the program 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.
IMU has been acquired Erasmus+ University Charter and currently establishing bilateral agreements with multiple European Higher Education Institutions.