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What is Erasmus+?

Erasmus+ is the European Union's flagship student mobility programme — the largest publicly funded student exchange initiative in the world. With a budget of €26 billion for the 2021–2027 funding cycle, it supports over 10 million participants across education, training, youth, and sport initiatives.

For university students, the core Erasmus+ offer is the study exchange: a structured period of 4–6 months spent at a partner university in another participating country, fully funded by a monthly mobility grant. The programme covers 33 countries — all 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Turkey, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

The most common misconception among Indian applicants is that Erasmus+ is only for European nationals. It is not. Erasmus+ eligibility is determined by your enrolled institution, not your nationality or citizenship. If you are enrolled as a full-time student at an accredited Italian university — regardless of whether you hold an Indian passport — you are fully eligible to apply for an Erasmus+ exchange through that university's ERASMUS office.

How much is the Erasmus+ grant?

The monthly Erasmus+ grant is structured by destination country group. Italy's university ERASMUS offices — working alongside national funding from INAIL and the European Commission — allocate amounts based on the cost-of-living tier of your host country:

In addition to the monthly grant, students receive a one-time travel grant of €275–360 depending on distance between origin and destination city. This is intended to cover flights or train tickets.

Critically, if you receive a DSU (Diritto allo Studio Universitario) scholarship from your Italian region — which covers tuition fees and often provides a living stipend and canteen access — the Erasmus+ grant is paid in addition to your DSU scholarship. You are not required to give one up for the other.

Which countries can you go to?

Erasmus+ exchanges are available across all 33 participating countries. The full list of eligible destinations is:

However, your practical choice of destination is shaped by your university's specific bilateral agreements. Every Italian university has signed exchange agreements with a selection of partner universities — typically between 20 and 60 partners per faculty, depending on the size and international focus of your department.

Engineering faculties at Politecnico di Milano, for instance, maintain agreements with TU Munich, Delft, and KTH Stockholm. Business faculties at Bocconi partner with Sciences Po Paris, Wharton (for non-Erasmus programmes), and LSE. Your ERASMUS office will publish the current partner list for your specific degree course — this is the first document to request.

What happens to your Italian credits?

This is the question Indian students ask most often — and the answer is entirely reassuring. Under the Erasmus+ programme, credit recognition is not optional; it is legally mandated.

Before you depart, you and your Italian university sign a Learning Agreement — a formal document that specifies exactly which courses you will take at the host university and how many ECTS credits each course represents. The host university countersigns this document, committing to award those credits upon successful completion.

Your Italian university is then legally obligated under the Erasmus+ institutional agreement to recognise those credits as part of your Italian degree programme. You do not lose a semester — the semester counts. Your Italian degree timeline is unchanged.

In practice, the Learning Agreement also allows some degree of substitution. If a course at the host university is not available (timetable conflict, capacity limit), you can agree on a replacement with your Italian academic coordinator — as long as the updated Learning Agreement is signed before your exchange ends.

How do you apply?

The Erasmus+ application process runs entirely through your Italian university's ERASMUS office. There is no central application to the European Commission — the university manages the process from selection to departure. Here is the standard sequence:

1. Contact your ERASMUS office. Every accredited Italian university has a dedicated ERASMUS/International Relations office. Locate it on your university's website (search "Erasmus" + your university name). Most offices hold information sessions at the start of the academic year — October or November.
2. Review the partner university list for your faculty. Partners are faculty-specific. An economics student at Università di Bologna cannot apply to a partner reserved for engineering students. Your ERASMUS office will provide the list applicable to your degree course.
3. Prepare your application. Typical requirements: a motivation letter (1–2 pages explaining your choice of destination and academic rationale), your academic transcript (marks from your Italian university), and sometimes a language certificate or brief interview.
4. Internal nomination. Your university's faculty nominates candidates based on academic merit and motivation. At most Italian universities, demand is lower than supply of places — most students who apply with a credible motivation receive a placement, though popular destinations (Germany, Netherlands, Spain) can be competitive.
5. Apply to the receiving university. Once nominated by your Italian university, you apply directly to the host university — usually a simpler online form confirming your arrival dates and course preferences.
6. Sign the Learning Agreement. You, your Italian academic coordinator, and the receiving university all sign the Learning Agreement before you depart. This is the document that guarantees your credit recognition.
7. Departure and grant payment. The Erasmus+ grant is typically paid in two instalments: 80% at departure and 20% upon return (after submitting your completion report).

The entire process from application open to departure is typically 6–9 months. Applications for the following academic year open in October–November; exchanges begin in September (full year) or February (spring semester).

Language — do you need to speak the local language?

The short answer: for most Master's level programmes in western Europe, English is sufficient. The longer answer is more nuanced.

The majority of European universities — particularly in the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany, and Belgium — offer substantial portions of their Master's programmes in English. When selecting courses for your Learning Agreement, you can specify English-medium sections. Most ERASMUS offices advise students on which partner universities offer the strongest English-language course catalogue in their subject area.

For southern Europe — Spain, Portugal, France, Italy itself — the English availability is lower at undergraduate level but strong at Master's level, particularly in business, engineering, and STEM fields. Some students use their Erasmus semester as an opportunity to develop a third language — French, German, or Spanish — which has genuine career value in the European market.

Italian universities often provide free online language preparation courses before Erasmus departures. The OLS (Online Language Support) platform provides assessments and courses in all major European languages and is available to all Erasmus+ students.

How Admify helps

The Erasmus+ information on Italian university websites is, without exception, incomplete for Indian students making a serious decision. Partner lists are published but not annotated. Selection criteria are stated in general terms but not explained in practice. And no university publishes data on how competitive each partnership actually is in a given year.

Your Admify AI Readiness Report includes a dedicated Erasmus+ chapter, matched to your university shortlist and faculty. It covers:

• Which universities on your shortlist have the strongest Erasmus+ networks in your subject area
• Which departments have the most partner agreements, and which partnerships have historically offered the most places to Indian students
• An honest assessment of your likelihood of selection based on your academic profile and stated preferences
• Partner universities ranked by English-medium course availability in your field
• Timeline and checklist for the application process from your expected enrolment date

Our specialists maintain direct contact with ERASMUS coordinators at major Italian universities. This is not information scraped from websites — it is current, verified intelligence that changes every academic cycle.