What actually is The Erasmus Programme?

The programme is named after Erasmus of Rotterdam, a philosopher, known as an opponent of dogmatism, who lived and worked in many places in Europe to expand his knowledge and gain new insights. Nowadays it is helping students to go for a semester or two to study abroad, in another European country. The ERASMUS programme guarantees that the period spent abroad is recognised by their university when they come back. A main part of the programme is that students do not pay extra tuition fees to the university that they visit.

For many European university students, the ERASMUS programme offers the chance of living in a foreign country for the first time. For this reason, it has become sort of a cultural phenomenon, and is very popular among European students, even becoming the subject of movies such as L'Auberge espagnole, which, it is claimed, has led to an increase in potential ERASMUS students in France.

The programme fosters not only learning and understanding of the host country, but also a sense of community among students from different countries. The ERASMUS experience is considered both a time for learning as well as a chance to socialize. "Erasmus parties" are known in university cities across Europe for being boisterous, multilingual events.

Source: Wikipedia