1. Fostering student mobility:
Next steps?
Christian Tauch
DG Education and Culture

2. Structure Erasmus Erasmus Mundus Bologna squeeze
Mobility requires transparency
New ideas
Erasmus mobility is certainly a European success story - growing from a modest students in 1987,[1] to the current situation where almost students participate every year. Five years ago, we celebrated one million Erasmus students. We aim to celebrate three million by 2012.
Erasmus is still growing. The new EU Member States have increased their figures by 10%. Erasmus mobility from candidate country Turkey grew by 56%. The UK figures are going up again after some years of decline. However, in other countries, growth is slowing, or even decreasing. The overall growth rate was only 3% last year, compared to 7% in earlier years.

3. Mobility Has been around for a long time but -
has never been higher on the European political agenda:
one of the priorities of the French presidency
Commission: High level group of experts, to deliver report in June
Council has asked Commission to provide report on impact of Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus, September
European Parliament is preparing report on Bologna
Erasmus mobility is certainly a European success story - growing from a modest students in 1987,[1] to the current situation where almost students participate every year. Five years ago, we celebrated one million Erasmus students. We aim to celebrate three million by 2012.
Erasmus is still growing. The new EU Member States have increased their figures by 10%. Erasmus mobility from candidate country Turkey grew by 56%. The UK figures are going up again after some years of decline. However, in other countries, growth is slowing, or even decreasing. The overall growth rate was only 3% last year, compared to 7% in earlier years. 3 3

4. Towards Mobility For All
Erasmus:
Towards Mobility For All
1987: 3,244 students
2007: 160,000 students
From 1,7 million to 3 million (2012)
3,4 % of graduates (including non-Erasmus: 10%)
Erasmus mobility is certainly a European success story - growing from a modest students in 1987,[1] to the current situation where almost students participate every year. Five years ago, we celebrated one million Erasmus students. We aim to celebrate three million by 2012.
Erasmus is still growing. The new EU Member States have increased their figures by 10%. Erasmus mobility from candidate country Turkey grew by 56%. The UK figures are going up again after some years of decline. However, in other countries, growth is slowing, or even decreasing. The overall growth rate was only 3% last year, compared to 7% in earlier years. 4 4

5. External dimension: Erasmus Mundus
New EU flagship programme since 2004
Promotion of European Joint/double master degrees
Attracting talented students worldwide
103 masters courses funded and some 6000 students and scholars supported so far
New enlarged phase from 2009 to 2013 with a 900m€ budget, including doctoral level 5 5

6. Points of concern: Bologna squeeze?
Erasmus mobility is stagnating or declining in some countries
Problem of curricular design – 5 years packed into 3 years-> no mobility window
Some HEI may have a preference for fee-paying non-European students
Stagnating or decreasing Erasmus figures also in countries that are not or not yet affected by Bologna restructuring 6 6

7. Changing mobility patterns, new challenges
Vertical mobility (degree mobility): lack of transparency for students, lack of funding, by many HEI perceived as a threat rather than an opportunity
Horizontal mobility (credit mobility): needs more preparation than in the traditional one tier programmes – learning agreements, guaranteed recognition
All programmes should have a mobility window, also Ba
Joint programmes, joint degrees: very promising but require even more intensive preparation, QA problems 7 7

8. Existing tools to boost mobility
Bologna Framework
ECTS
European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF)
European Quality Assurance Register in Higher Education (EQAR)

9. Mobility needs transparency: European database of HEI
Make use of existing national registers of HEI and programmes
Enrich them with performance data in education, research, innovation
Mid-2008: DG RTD will launch call for tender for integrated European statistical information system

10. Mobility needs transparency:
Ranking
CHE developed a multidimensional ranking as a student information tool for German HE
Commission support for the CHE pilot project (Netherlands, Flanders)
Possibly extension to other European countries

11. Mobility needs transparency:
Typology of HEI
Ranking requires clarity on types of institutions: CHEPS typology project
Categories: Teaching, research, international orientation, LLL engagement, institutional characteristics

12. OECD project on assessing
HE learning outcomes
Commission will contribute expertise gathered in various projects, like the classification project or Tuning.

13. New ideas
Flexibility: a rucksack of mobility credits for each student to spend at first, second or third cycle, for study or placement abroad
European Student loans : Commission and European Investment Bank discuss possible approaches
Teacher and researcher mobility: long term remains difficult (pensions, social security)-> Communication on « better careers and more mobility », May 2008 13 13

14. New ideas Common objective:
by % of all graduates should have been mobile
Two layer approach:
combination of Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus
Consequence: More funding is needed
from governments, but also from regions, communities, enterprises... 14 14

15. THANK YOU !