What is Erasmus?
Erasmus+ is a European Union grant program that covers education, youth, and sports from 2021 to 2027. The goal of the Erasmus+ Program is to help individuals gain new skills regardless of their age or educational background, strengthen their personal development, and increase employment opportunities. The budget for the Erasmus+ Program for the 2021-2027 period is 28.4 billion euros across all of Europe.
The activities supported under the Erasmus+ Program are mainly grouped into 3 Key Actions (KA) and 1 Special Action:
Erasmus+ Short Introduction Video
What are the Goals of the Program?
Erasmus+, the EU's program in the fields of education, youth, and sports, supports education, training, internships, professional development, youth activities based on non-formal learning, and cooperation between institutions across Europe and beyond. The program aims to modernize education, training, and youth work across Europe and also contribute to the development of human and social capital with the skills required by the labor market and a competitive economy.
The Erasmus+ Program was initially launched in 1987 as a student exchange program to encourage higher education students to spend one or two semesters abroad. Over time, the program expanded to include not only student exchanges but also school education, vocational training, adult education, and youth sectors. By 2013, it operated under different components such as Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, and Lifelong Learning. In the 2014-2020 period, it was unified under one program, adding the sports sector, and became known as Erasmus+. The European Commission has decided to continue the program under the name Erasmus+ for the 2021-2027 period. The budget for the Erasmus+ Program in the 2021-2027 period has nearly doubled compared to the previous period (2014-2020), reaching 28.4 billion euros.
Turkey's Participation in the Program
Turkey has been participating in the EU’s education, youth, and sports programs since 2004.
The Erasmus+ Program participation agreement for the 2021-2027 period was signed on October 27, 2021, and our participation became official with its publication in the Official Gazette on November 16.
The national coordinator for the program in Turkey is the Turkish National Agency.
The horizontal priorities for all projects in the 2021-2027 period are:
- Inclusion and Diversity
- Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Mitigation
- Digital Transformation
- Participation in Democratic Life, Common Values, and Civic Engagement
Through the program, individuals from various age groups and sectors can gain and share knowledge and experiences abroad in areas such as education, training, learning, internships, work-based learning, youth activities based on non-formal learning, and volunteering. Erasmus+ is open to education, training, youth, and sports organizations in all sectors of lifelong learning, including school education, vocational training, higher education, adult education, and youth and sports sectors. Additionally, the program helps institutions and organizations experience and apply innovative and best practices in their sectors, improve their institutional capacities, and expand their international reach by collaborating with counterparts abroad.
Thanks to over 30 years of higher education mobility across Europe, significant progress has been made in harmonizing university structures and increasing compatibility in higher education systems. The Erasmus+ Program is built on EU policy documents such as the "Strategic Framework for Education and Training," "Commission Communication on Modernizing Higher Education," "Renewed European Cooperation Framework for Youth," "EU Youth Strategy (2010-2018)," "White Paper on Sport," "European Dimension in Sport," and the "EU Work Plan for Sport."
Who Can Benefit from the Erasmus+ Program?
In the field of higher education: university students, academics, and higher education staff.
In the field of vocational education: students of vocational schools, apprentices, professionals, educators, and vocational education staff.
In the field of school education: primary and secondary school students, school leaders, teachers, and school staff.
In the field of adult education: learners, educators, and staff of adult education institutions.
In the field of youth: young people aged 13-30, youth workers, members, and staff of youth organizations.
In the field of sports: public bodies related to sports, associations representing athletes, National Olympic Committees, national sports leagues, federations, clubs, and sports NGOs...
In short, individuals from all age groups and backgrounds, as well as institutions at all levels, can benefit from the program.
Structure of the Erasmus+ Program
The Erasmus+ Program consists of 3 Key Actions and 2 Special Actions:
Key Action 1: Individual Learning Mobility (KA1) Key Action 2: Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices (KA2) Key Action 3: Support for Policy Reform (KA3) Special Action 1: Jean Monnet Actions Special Action 2: Sports Supports The Erasmus+ Program includes both "country-based" and "centralized" activities.
Country-Based Projects: Applications are made to the Turkish National Agency.
Centralized Projects: Applications are made to the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, based in Brussels, which is affiliated with the European Commission.
Updated calls for proposals for all centralized activities can be found on the website of the Education, Audiovisual, and Culture Executive Agency.
Would you like to know more?
The program is managed and implemented through the European Commission, National Agencies, and the Education, Audiovisual, and Culture Executive Agency. In Turkey, the Erasmus+ Program is coordinated by the Turkish National Agency.
