1. Erasmus Student Network AISBL
Rue Hydraulique 15 - 1210 Brussels – BELGIUM
www.esn.org
Opinion on the Erasmus+
Organisational Support Grants for
Higher Education mobility1
The Erasmus Student Network calls for wise use of the Erasmus+
organisational support grant for Higher Education mobility.
The new Erasmus+ programme merges seven former European programmes in the fields of
education, youth, training and sport. The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) welcomes the importance
given to student mobility within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the substantial increase of
funding.
However, financial rules have been deeply changed and some important changes are to be
highlighted. Higher Education Institutions participating in the Erasmus+ programme will receive a
grant composed of two clearly distinct parts: grant and organisational support.
The grant support will directly support students through individual subsistence and travel funds.
Furthermore, the organisational support will be received by HEIs in order to support the costs
related to the organisation of student mobility. In the Erasmus+ programme guide2
this second share
is quite precisely earmarked towards specific actions designed to improve the quality of mobility.
ESN welcomes the flexibility offered by the Erasmus+ programme regarding its use. We therefore
call all stakeholders, especially HEIs and National Agencies, to pay special attention to the good use
of this new funding stream so as to improve the quality of the mobility flow in HEIs. We would like to
emphasize that some of the goals coveted by this share of the Erasmus+ grant can be best achieved
by creating synergies between HEIs and different stakeholders, including international student
associations such as local and national ESN branches.
Among these goals we would like to call for a strong focus on:
 a satisfactory welcome and reception of international students,
 the facilitation of the integration of incoming mobile participants with local students in their
HEIs,
 better support services for non-mobile and mobile students,
 the specific arrangements to ensure the quality of student traineeships in enterprises,
 the support of reintegration of mobile participants and building on their new
acquired competences for the benefit of both HEIs and peers.
1
This article has been written by Valentin Dupouey, Jesús Escrivá Muñoz, Adriana Pérez and Bojana Zimonjić,
members of the International Committee for Education. The authors thank all the input received by Matleena
Heikkinen and Christos Zervas.
2
“Erasmus+ Programme Guide”, European Commission.

2. Erasmus Student Network AISBL
Rue Hydraulique 15 - 1210 Brussels – BELGIUM
www.esn.org
The recent REACT report3
has highlighted numerous outstanding, cost-efficient, good synergies
between students’ association and HEIs designed at improving the quality of mobility.
As an example, since 2010, the International Relations Office of the University of Almería organises
the Orientations Days with the local association of the Erasmus Student Network - ESN Almería.
Incoming students in Almería receive an appointment for the reception before arriving. Once at the
University, they are received by the ESN reception desk where volunteer students provide them with
a welcome package with information about the city, the university and the association. In addition,
local volunteers take a picture of the exchange students and upload it in the system, help them to
confirm their appointment with the IRO who continues with the registration process. This way, the
process is sped up and incoming students receive personalized attention from the beginning.
In the University of Porto, the International Relations Office has establish an agreement through the
local ESN Porto association with one mobile operator company so that exchange students receive a
free SIM Cards which allows free communications between the card users. This initiative promotes
friendship bonds between students who exchange ideas and solutions for the common initial
challenges faced.
Thus, the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), drawing on 25 years of work towards higher quality of
international learning mobility, is calling all partners such as National Agencies, National Rectors’
Conferences and Higher Education Institutions, for a well targeted and relevant use of the Erasmus+
organisational support fund.
ESN especially encourages National Agencies and Higher Education Institutions to enter in an open
dialogue with ESN national and local associations and individual Higher Education Institutions to
closely cooperate with each other in order to implement cost-effective and field-proven good
practices to ensure that mobility experiences are made optimal for both incoming and outgoing
Erasmus students.
3
“REACT: univeRsity administrativE stAff Closer to foreign studenTs”. Dequech at altri, Wrocław University of
Technology, Poland.