Study abroad exchange semester

Erasmus+ is the European Commission’s education and mobility exchange programme which has existed for more than 30 years. The programme is among others aimed at strengthening student mobility as exchange and strengthening the European identity and building international competences among students in higher education across Europe. In 2019 the programme allocated EUR 35,6 million to support projects and support exchange students within EU/Europe (programme countries) or outside Europe/EU (partner countries).

Besides financial support, minimum quality standards to observe and recognition of credits, the Erasmus+ programme also has a strong focus on students proficiency in the European languages (not only “work language” which typically is English). OLS, Online Linguistic Support, is a free of charge offer to outgoing exchange students where you are invited to join for an online language test (work language during mobility) before and after the exchange to trace improved proficiency. If needed, OLS offer an online language course in the work language or alternatively a language course in the language of the destination country if different from the work language. Thus, the Erasmus+ programme contribute to and support the participating students’ development of their proficiency in one or more of the European languages.

Besides a financial contribution to outgoing students to make a study abroad realistic, the Erasmus+ programme also means that your exchange meet the quality requirements and give you the rights set by programme and the charter principles.

Zealand Academy of Technologies and Business is an approved participant in the Erasmus+ programme and holds an Erasmus+ charter from the European Commission. Our Erasmus+ id is: DK KOGE03

See our Erasmus+ Charter approval here

Explore further about Erasmus Plus in FAQ Erasmus Plus

A study abroad mobility through the Erasmus+ programme must have a minimum duration of 3 month and you can maximum have support for 12 month (same programme major). Typically, the duration is one semester but can be extended by an additional semester. You must have completed your first year (two semesters) of higher education and typically a study abroad for Zealand students will be during their mobility window on 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th semester. Study abroad mobilities must be recognized by Zealand towards the degree (semester) you study with Zealand. In other words, the learning outcome from a semester abroad must be similar, however not identical, to the semester curricula of your Zealand programme major.

It is a requirement that the host institution for an exchange must be a nationally recognized higher education institution in its home country. That the host institution holds an Erasmus+ charter approval and finally, that Zealand has a partner agreement with the institution in question. See our partner institutions under “Destinations – where can I go”.

A study abroad mobility to programme countries must be in one of the EU or EEA countries (EU including Norway, Iceland, Turkey or Lichtenstein). Participants are offered a monthly support, which differ from country to country ranging from EUR 320 to EUR 370 (2019). The financial support is calculated according to actual number of days required to be abroad from start date to end date. You can see which partners we have relevant for your programme major under “Destinations – where can I go”. You can also ask the international mobility ambassador on your campus for options and alternatives.

Study abroad mobility to Erasmus+ partner countries will be destined to a country outside EU and EEA. Study abroad mobility to Erasmus+ partner countries are different from mobilities to programme countries since possibilities depend on institutions interest and ability to apply for funding yearly. Zealand has so far been relatively successful to secure funding for our students and partner country partnerships. Study abroad mobility to partner countries must go to the counties and institutions where Zealand has been successful to secure funds and being nominated (selected) as a Zealand student can be competitive. So far we have or have had funding for study abroad mobility to our partnerships in USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, PR China, Russian Federation, Chile, Peru, Mexico (and Vietnam for internship). If you are interested in an Erasmus+ partner country mobility, you need to consult with your on-campus international mobility ambassador who can inform you where we have seats and funding available at the moment. Since competitive to become nominated (selected) we recommend that you also consider other options or the alternative to go for a mobility as a bilateral exchange (free seats with our partner institution in a partner country but without funding from Erasmus+).

If nominated for an Erasmus+ partner country study abroad you will have funding during your mobility. You will have a monthly support of EUR 700 (fixed amount to all countries) and a travel grant ranging between EUR 275 and EUR 1,500 depending on geographical distance to the destination country.

If you wish to apply for an Erasmus+ study abroad mobility apply online to the international mobility ambassador on your Zealand campus. For further information see under apply.

INTERNAL NOMINATION: Initially your Zealand campus nominate you for an Erasmus+ mobility to the central Zealand International office. There might be more applicants than seats for a funded mobility, especially for partner countries outside EU/EEA. We always recommend you to rank and apply for up to three possible destinations. If we cannot honour your first choice, we will try to honour your second or third choice. For the nomination, we apply a set of nomination criteria aimed at ranking and selecting among applicants.

Here are the formal requirements and nomination criteria applied by Zealand

If you are nominated (selected) you will be informed directly about your nomination.

As a next step, you have to start the application and admission process externally at the partner institution in question. Alongside this process, there also will be a formal process to formalize your Erasmus+ support as well as the process to apply for a student visa/residence if needed.