Beyond Erasmus - where and why European students travel

To understand the importance of the phenomenon, just consider that the number of students who move temporarily under the Erasmus+ programme is only about 300,000 per year.

All student flows in Europe

Which factors shape these choices, and what are the obstacles for European students coming from non-member states?

Obstacles for the students from the 'periphery'

South-east Europe is an interesting case study as far as student mobility is concerned, both because of the size of the flows and because the region is a 'closed' system, mostly characterised by intra-regional flows.

Its students tend to move much more than the EU average – they make up almost a third of the European students enrolling abroad. That choice is often determined by the limited number of top-class universities in their region, which is rather flooded with poor quality institutions, managed by the private sector without adequate public control. However, there are also other financial and cultural factors at play.

Despite the strong demand for better educational opportunities abroad, there are many obstacles.

While within the EU students are free to enrol in a different country and receive the same treatment as local students, for those from outside the EU everything is more complicated: higher fees, more bureaucracy, and – unless there are bilateral agreements – limited access to scholarships and accommodation.

As the data shows, EU citizenship really makes a difference for south-east European students wishing to go abroad. Among those coming from EU member states, only 23 percent stay in the region. The figure almost doubles ( to 45 percent) for those who are not EU citizens.

When looking at the opposite phenomenon, i.e. students from the rest of the continent moving to south-east Europe, the main beneficiaries are EU member states such as Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece – while the other countries struggle to attract students.

A missed opportunity?

The positive impact of student mobility has long been acknowledged and promoted in Europe: studying abroad fosters education, language skills, cross-cultural contacts, and job opportunities.

This vision led to the creation of the European Higher Education Area and of the Erasmus+ programme. By 2020, the EU aims at bringing to 20 percent the number of university students spending time abroad, either for education or training.

However, south-east European students tend to get less benefits from international mobility, as they mostly move within their own region – most flows connect countries that are already very close in terms of language and culture.

Exchanges often take place according to the state of the relationships in the area, with bilateral agreements making funds and places available for neighbouring foreigners. For instance, many Bosnian-Serb students move to Serbia.

Paradoxically, these dynamics may end up reducing – rather than fostering – the opportunities implied by cultural exchange.

At the same time however, intra-regional mobility might be seen as a way to reconciliate, overcome divisions and encourage mutual contacts. The objectives of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), created in the framework of the Berlin process, go exactly in this direction.

The role of bilateral relations

The analysis of incoming and outgoing student flows in south-east Europe highlights some strong, often one-way bilateral relations.

It is the case of Greece, where over 85 percent of inbound students come from Cyprus (52 percent) and Albania (36 percent). For Albanian students, the key factor is the existence of established migration flows between the two countries, whereas students from Cyprus are mainly motivated by the absence of language barriers and by financial considerations.

While access to BA degrees is free in both countries, MA degrees in Cyprus cost between €4,000 and €10,000, against an average of €3,660 in Greece.

Bosnia and Herzegovina receives a very high number of students for the size of its university system.

Croatian students stand out as 40 percent of incoming students and mostly choose the University of Mostar, while another 25 percent is formed by Turkish students, concentrating in the private colleges of Sarajevo and Travnik (respectively 1,218 and 759 students in 2016).

As regards outbound flows, over 50 percent of Bosnians enrolling abroad move to Serbia; only about a hundred per year choose Croatia (but they are probably much more: many hold a double passport, so they are not registered as foreigners).

Turkey comes fourth among the most popular destinations for Bosnian students, who can benefit from dedicated scholarships there – a flow that may increase in the future in light of the recent introduction of Turkish language classes in the schools of some parts of the country.

Also the cultural and language ties between Moldova and Romania translate into a constant, remarkable flow of students, supported by public policies that reserve 5,000 places a year in Romanian universities – mostly funded – for Moldavian students.

It can be said that student mobility in the region remains so far an opportunity only half-developed.

Choices are mostly shaped by linguistic and financial incentives linked to the state of bilateral relationships in the area, thereby limiting the potential of cultural exchange.

Initiatives like mobility programmes in the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region and RYCO, which sets student mobility as one of its priorities, seek to overcome this pattern.

The extension of the Erasmus+ programme to the area is another positive signal, waiting for the full equalisation of the region's students with their colleagues coming from the EU.