Campus Talk: Why do EUR students ignore the opportunity to affordably study abroad?

Relatively few Erasmus University students travel abroad supported by an Erasmus grant. With approximately one in twelve students, Erasmus University Rotterdam is ranked far below universities such as Maastricht and Nijmegen. Wageningen students are on top of this list, one in four applies for the grants. EM interviewed exchange students and Dutch students who have studied abroad. What are their thoughts, why do relatively few EUR students study abroad supported by an Erasmus grant?

Dominic Ward, 20 years, exchange student from Leeds University (Arts and Culture studies)

“How many times in your life do you have the possibility to live and study abroad? I have only one year to go at my university and I really want to extend my student days. It surprises me that EUR students seem to be less fond of studying abroad. However, I can imagine that Rotterdam is international enough for most of the people. Money shouldn’t be the main reason to stay home, especially when you go to a European University. Most of my friends are currently abroad, applying for the Erasmus grants appeared to be pretty easy. We’ve received step-by-step guides and picking my destination was also not difficult. I had heard stories from other students about their great time in this progressive and modern city.”

Steffi Krenn, exchange student from University of Vienna (Communication and Media)

Carlos Schyns, 23 years old, went on exchange to a US university (Financial Economics)

“I believe that in Utrecht, the city in which I used to study before, more people go to study abroad. In my master programme, no one is thinking about studying across the border. I decided to study in the US, even though I knew about the Erasmus grants. A European university was never really an option, and a nice grant couldn’t convince me to stay. I love the American culture and I had the possibility to go to a top-rated university, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After all, I’m glad that I’ve done it. Those four months in the US were the best months of my life.”