The European Parliament has voted to approve the new Erasmus Mundus II programme. The previous Erasmus Mundus programme ran from 2004-2008 and had a budget of €230 million. The aim of the programme is to promote the EU as a worldwide centre of excellence in learning. In the first phase more than 6, ed 000 students from outside Europe will have received a scholarship to obtain a master’s degree in Europe and more than 1,000 third country scholars will have been given a scholarship.
The Erasmus Mundus II programme will have a budget of €950 million. The coverage of the new programme will extend to include doctoral level studies, and will also give higher grants to European students to ensure they get the same treatment as their non-European counterparts and so prevent ‘ghettos’ of EU and non-EU students on the courses.
The new programme will also further integrate the ‘Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window’ under the Erasmus Mundus umbrella. This is an action targeted at specific regions in the world to promote understanding between these regions and the EU in the higher education field. The new programme will also encourage third country higher education institutes to participate as full members in the consortium.
