Welcome news for ALL NI Students…
Third level students from Northern Ireland colleges will continue to be able to study in Europe under the Erasmus+ scheme after the UK leaves the EU because the Irish Government will fund them.
The estimated cost will be around €2.1m per year.
Erasmus enables third level students to study for part or all of their degree in another EU member state or undertake a work placement abroad, with their fees and costs paid.
The exchanges usually take place during the second or third year of a course and can last up to 12 months.
Last year, 649 students and staff from Northern Ireland took part in the scheme.
Erasmus+ covers EU member countries plus a number of non members who opt in, like North Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia and Turkey as well as large number of partner countries across the globe.
According to the BBC:
The Erasmus programme is run in seven-year cycles and the next one will be from 2021 to 2027. The European Commission has proposed doubling the funding of Erasmus for the next cycle to €30bn (£27bn).
From January the UK government say that it is considering transferring the rest of the UK to a national scheme to be named after the mathematician Alan Turing. However the details are sketchy, to say the least.
In the meantime the UK programme will continue in 2021:
UK universities are still eligible to participate in Erasmus programmes. And as long as funding is awarded before the end of 2020, students and staff will be able to go ahead with their exchanges even if they take place after the end of the transition period.
Universities UK’s guidance is that: “In effect, this means staff and students can complete mobility periods and receive funding up until the end of the 2021-22 academic year.”
What’s not clear from the RTÉ story is to what degree some Northern Irish students will still have to deal with new immigration regulations which only allow stays in an EU country for 90 out of every 180 days without a visa.
“FESTVERANSTALTUNG “30 JAHRE ERASMUS”” by Universität Salzburg (NaWi-AV-Studio) is licensed under CC BY-ND
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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