EU spokesperson: Grant differences only »natural«

Students from poorer countries should get more, claims EU Commission

by Maya Lievegoed

Students may feel cheated when they talk to other internationals who get a higher Erasmus grant. But there is nothing inherently unfair about the system.

Read the article 'Erasmus grants are not fair' here.

This is at least according to Natascha Sander, Information & Communication officer of the Directorate General for Education and Culture, at the European Commission.

»It is absolutely natural that a student from a country with a lower standard of living gets a higher grant going to a country with a high standard of living,« she explains.

See the differences in Erasmus grants here.

Universities decide

Her sentiment is supported by several official Erasmus coordinators of the University of Copenhagen who communicated with the University Post while preparing this article.

The large differences within countries, with two Spanish students receiving different Erasmus grants can also be explained by Natascha Sander: The programme is decentralized.

»Therefore each country and university can decide on the level of grant. They might decide to send more students with a lower grant or fewer students with a higher grant,« she says.

uni-avis@adm.ku.dk

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