Erasmus+ Key Action 2

By Claire Jasmine

The world highly integrated and accesible for all as academic institutions made education become available for all.

With all the multifaceted problems in the world today that keep emerging, it is imperative to work together to solve the problems. Students worldwide can now be a part of the development and be the catalyst of change for a better world.

In the effort to facilitate mobility and financial funding to share innovation in education and training, Erasmus+ develops programs of activities and projects to support education, training, youth, and sport in Europe.

The programs have a wide variety of schemes that both individuals and institutions worldwide can benefit from. With a budget of over €26.2 billion, Erasmus+ gives opportunities for students and academics to study, train, gain experience, and volunteer abroad.

Key Action 2 by Erasmus+

To achieve its objectives, Erasmus+ created a collection of activities. Erasmus+ Key Action 2 is specially designed to facilitate students and academic staff in an exchange scholarship program for 6 months (one semester) to a maximum of 34 months in a participating higher education institution in Europe. The scholarship grants the entire cost of travel and accommodation at the host university, including living expenses and other expenses related to the enrolment and insurance.

Key Action 2 comprises five fields of higher education, vocational education and training (VET), schools, adult education, and youth for students and academics can choose from.

Official Website: Erasmus+ Key Action 2

Who Can Apply

Erasmus+ opens the opportunity for individuals and organizations worldwide to apply, although eligibility varies from one action country to another. The conditions of access to the program, therefore, relate to these two actors: the "participants" (individuals participating in the program) and the "participating organizations".

Students and academic staff outside Europe must be citizens of one of the countries covered by the respective geographic lot. However, they do not necessarily need to belong to one of the consortium universities.

The institution partners are responsible for creating their criteria and procedures for awarding individual, professors, or scholars grants and scholarships. Click on the links to find out the eligibility of individual or organizations as well as the Programme Guide.

Find the list of scholarships available to study in Europe here.

Key Actions 2 Structure

Concrete actions which Key Action 2 are set to achieve in the field of education and training are:

• Students and academic staff will benefit from transparency and internationally recognized credentials in the labor market through Knowledge Alliances activities. The tools aim for the skills and qualifications to be more easily recognizable within and across borders.
• Sector Skills Alliances ensures cooperation between partner countries to make any educational resources and tools freely available for the public to achieve the Europe 2020 objective of innovative, sustainable and inclusive growth to close the skill gap that exists about one or more occupational profiles in a specific sector.
• Capacity-building in youth projects aims to improve non-formal learning and volunteering work that are better aligned with the needs and opportunities in the labor market and community. In addition, the project's objective is to modernize and standardize the quality of higher education institutions and their academic mechanisms in Partner countries.
• Continuously contribute to job creation, economic growth, and social cohesion through education, lifelong learning, informal and formal learning, sport, and youth engagement.

The Actions supported under this Key Action is intended to bring positive and long-lasting effects on the participating organizations and individuals directly and indirectly, such as: providing more attractive education and training programs that are in line with what is applicable in the world today and trigger modernization on education and training systems to tackle the world's challenges today.

Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices is the key factor for socio-economic development and employability. The program invites student candidates to participate together in the economy by exchanging ideas and technical practice. It affects how we live and communicate, which will create a better world.

For more information about Erasmus+ Key Action 2 Scholarship Programme, click here.