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ERASMUS is an abbreviation of "European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students". It was incorporated into the Socrates Programme when that programme was established in 1995. The Socrates programme ended on 31 Dec 1999 and was replaced with the Socrates II programme on 24 Jan 2000 . The aim of Erasmus is to encourage and support Academic Mobility of Higher Education students and teachers within the European Union , the European Economic Area countries such as Norway and Iceland , and also the candidate countries of Bulgaria , Romania and Turkey . There are currently 2,199 Higher Education institutions participating in ERASMUS across the 31 countries involved in the Socrates Programme . ERASMUS FOR STUDENTS To participate in the ERASMUS programme students must be studying for a degree or diploma and must have completed their first year. They also have to be a citizen of one of the countries in the wider Socrates Programme . Students who join the ERASMUS programme study for a period of 3 months to a year in another European country. The ERASMUS programme guarantees that the period spent abroad is recognised by their university when they come back as long as they abide by terms previously agreed. A main part of the programme is that students do not pay extra tuition fees to the university that they visit. Students can also apply for an ERASMUS grant to help cover the additional expense of living abroad. THE "ERASMUS EXPERIENCE" For many European university students, the Erasmus programme offers the chance of living for the first time in a foreign country. For this reason, it has become sort of a cultural phenomenon, and is enormously popular among European students, even becoming the subject of movies such as ''L'Auberge espagnole'' ( IMDB listing ). The program fosters not only learning and understanding of the host country, but also a sense of community among students from different countries. The Erasmus Experience is considered both a time for learning as well as a chance to socialize. "Erasmus parties" are known in university cities across Europe for being boisterous, multilingual events. The experience of students varies enormously from country to country. In all countries some level of language tuition is provided in order to help students integrate. In some countries visiting Erasmus students complain of a high workload compounded by difficulties with language comprehension, while in others visiting students complain that the authorities seem to expect the students to treat the visit as an extended holiday, and do not give any deadlines or real assessment. FUTURE OF ERASMUS The European Commission has proposed an Integrated Programme in the field of Lifelong Learning to replace the programmes within the Socrates Programme from 2006 . SEE ALSO European Credit Transfer System EXTERNAL LINKS
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