Press Release: Erasmus World: a European higher education scheme to attract more students from third countries and enable European students to study in other countries

How can we strengthen links between our universities to improve the quality and competitiveness of our higher education? How can higher education in the European Union be made more attractive to students and teachers in the rest of the world? The Erasmus World programme is designed to meet these two challenges. It offers high-profile assistance in the form of 250 European masters courses and thousands of study grants and fellowships for nationals of third countries and for Europeans. Like the Fulbright Programme in the United States, it will help to strengthen intercultural dialogue and communicate European cultures and values more effectively to the rest of the world. Covering the period 2004-2008, Erasmus World will have a budget of EUR 200 million.