Information for those selected for the Erasmus+ exchange

Erasmus+ grant

The amount of the Erasmus grant is determined by the duration of the exchange and the destination country. The grant consists of daily grant and travel grant.

Daily grant

• 540 €/month and 18 €/day for countries with a higher cost of living (Netherlands,  Belgium,  Ireland,  Iceland,  United Kingdom,  Italy,  Austria,  Liechtenstein,  Luxembourg,  Norway,  France,  Sweden,  Germany,  Denmark).
• 490 €/month and 16,33 €/day for all other programme countries.
• Switzerland is not officially part of the Erasmus program, but the Swiss government pays incoming exchange students an Erasmus-type grant of CHF 380/month or CHF 1900/semester (year 2022-23). Those going to Switzerland will receive information and instructions on how to apply for a grant from their own exchange university.
   

Erasmus+ travel grant

Starting from the academic year 2024-2025, a travel grant will be provided for Erasmus+ student exchanges. The amount of the travel grant depends on the distance to the destination and whether it qualifies as green mobility. The amount of the travel grant is determined according to the table below. The travel grant is determined based on the length of one-way, beelined trip (in kilometres) from the University of Jyväskylä campus to the main campus of the host university. Possible staging posts along the way are not taken into account. The distance calculator can be found from the European Commission's website: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/distance-calculator

In addition to the travel grant, you may also receive a daily grant for a maximum of 2 travel days. When traveling green, you can receive a grant for a total of 6 travel days.

Additional Erasmus+ grants

The Erasmus+ program supports students who have fewer opportunities than others. Those who belong to any of the fewer opportunities categories can get fixed additional grants. In addition, students can also apply for inclusion support based on real costs.

Fewer opportunities and accessibility

The Erasmus+ program also includes support for green mobility. You can get an additional green mobility grant if you travel to and from the exchange destination with low-emission vehicles for at least 50% of the journey.

 Green travel

Examples of calculation of Erasmus+ grants:

Example 1: Student exchange to Dijon, France 15.9.-24.1.  

Calculation of daily grant:
Duration of the exchange is 4 months and 10 days (4 months = 15.9.-14.1., 10 days = 15.-24.1.) 
The monthly grant for a student exchange in France is 540€ and the daily grant is 18€/day
Student's grant is (4 x 540 €) + (10 x 18 €) = 2160+180 = 2340€

Calculation of travel grant:

Jyväskylä - Dijon distance: 2105 km
Travel grant based on the distance is 395€ (2000-2999 km)

Number of travel days: 
The student does not travel green, so they get a daily grant from 2 travel days. The daily grant in France is 18€/day.
2 travel days x 18 € = 36€

Student's total grant is:
2340 € + 395 € + 36 € = 2771 €
 

Example 2: Student exchange for a student with a family to Ljubljana, Slovenia 19.2.-28.6. The student travels green.

Calculation of daily grant:
Duration of the exchange is 4 months and 10 days (4 months = 19.2. – 18.6., 10 days = 19.6.–28.6.) 
The monthly grant for a student exchange in Slovenia is 490 €.
The fixed fewer opportunities (student with under aged children) additional grant for a student is 250 € / month. 
The monthly grant amount then is 740 € (490 € + 250 €). 
Daily grant is 740 € / 30 = 24,67 €  
Student's grant is (4 x 740€) + (10 x 24,67 €) = 3206,7 € ≈ 3207 € 

Calculation of travel grant:

Jyväskylä - Ljubljana distance: 1937 km
Travel grant based on the distance, green travel: 417€ (500-1999 km)

Number of travel days: 

The student travels green and travels 3+3 days both ways. Daily grant is 24,67 €. 
6 travel days x 24,67 € = 148,02 ≈ 148 €

Student's total grant is:
3207 € + 417€ + 148 € = 3772 €

Grant days

The grant is paid for days when you study at your host university, so it is not based, for example, on the official semester days of the host university.

• The first day of your stay is the first day when you are expected to be at the host university, e.g. the first day of the orientation programme.
• The last day of your stay is the last day when you are expected to be present at the host university, e.g. the final exam*.
• A stay in the host country prior or after the academic semester is not included in the exchange and grant period. Distance learning to the University of Jyväskylä is not included either.
• Time spent in the host country before the semester begins or after it cannot be considered as part of your exchange or scholarship period.
• Language courses which take place before the beginning of the semester can be included in the scholarship period. However, if there is a gap of several weeks between the language course and the start of the exchange period, the time between the end of the course and the beginning of the exchange cannot be funded

*) Please note that many universities inform their official semester dates including holiday periods. For example, in Germany and Austria the official spring (=summer) semester lasts until September. However, courses and exams typically end by the end of July. As your scholarship is paid according to actual dates of studying, your scholarship can be paid until the end of July at most.

Erasmus+ grant agreement

As an Erasmus+ scholarship recipient, you are required to: 

• Prepare a digital Learning Agreement as part of the Mobility-Online workflow and get it accepted by the sending faculty.
• State the dates of your exchange period as well as the bank details on Mobility-Online.
• Accept the Erasmus+ grant agreement on Mobility Online.

According to the rules of the Erasmus+ program, the scholarship is intended to be paid before the start of the mobility period. Make sure that you do all the preceding steps in Mobility Online in due time so that you can proceed to apply for the scholarship in time. If you did not manage to apply for the scholarship before the start of the mobility period, apply for it as soon as possible. You cannot apply for the scholarship anymore once the mobility period has ended, therefore make sure you apply for it and accept the agreement at the very latest before the end of the mobility period. 

Students employed by the University of Jyväskylä

It is not possible to work for the University of Jyväskylä from abroad and it is therefore not possible to go on student exchange or a traineeship abroad while being employed by JYU. More information can be found here.

Guideline for posting abroad
 

Payment dates of the grant

The Erasmus+ scholarship is paid in one installment.

In order to get the scholarship, you need to accept both the Erasmus+ grant agreement and the "Consent to individual liability during exchange" form on Mobility-Online. Those leaving for work placement have to return the original grant agreement to work-life services.

Below are the dates when the grant will be paid and the dates when the grant agreement needs to be accepted on on Mobility-Online (Erasmus students) or returned to work-life services (Erasmus trainees) in order to get the grant paid by that day. Accept/return the grant agreement when your exchange/internship period is roughly known and participating has been confirmed. Please note that you cannot apply for the scholarship anymore once the mobility period has ended.

If you accept the scholarship agreement after the deadline, it will be paid to you on the next possible payment day, which is often the last day of the following month.

Certificate on Erasmus+ nomination

After you have returned the above mentioned scholarship confirmation form, the International Office will send you a document in English certifying that you have been nominated to the Erasmus+ programme. You will receive the document approximately two weeks before the month in which your exchange begins.  When you apply for a residence permit, the certificate can be used as one of the documents needed to prove that you have sufficient funds to cover the costs of your exchange.
 

Testing of language skills and language training (OLS)

Students studying or working abroad through the Erasmus+ programme can complete an online language proficiency test (OLS) before and after their exchange/work placement period abroad. The language test is available in the following languages: Bulgarian, English, Spanish, Irish, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Croatian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Portuguese, Polish, French, Romanian, Swedish, German, Slovak, Slovene, Danish, Czech, Hungarian and Estonian.

The language proficiency test is used to assess the need for language training and to measure the development in language skills during the exchange period. The test can be taken again after the exchange to see if you have developed your language skills during your exchange. Students going to Switzerland are not able to take the language test as Switzerland is not part of the Erasmus+ program.

After finishing your language proficiency test you can take part in an optional online language course.
 

Verification of the period abroad

At the end of the exchange period, you should ask your host university / internship organization for a certificate of your period abroad (the so-called Letter of Confirmation form for students), which confirms the actual duration of your exchange period.
 

Minimum and maximum length of the exchange period

The minimum length of the exchange is 2 months (60 days) and the maximum is 12 months (360 days). Exchange periods which are under 60 days do not meet the minimum requirement of the exchange and therefore are not eligible for an Erasmus+ grant.

If the duration of the exchange drops below the 60-day limit, the student will be required to pay the full Erasmus+ grant back. It is not possible to get a scholarship for a virtual exchange conducted from Finland or from your home country.

Please note that that in practice the length of the exchange is defined based on the length of the host university's academic semester.
 

Shortening or extending of your Erasmus+ exchange period

If your exchange period shortens from the planned exchange period by more than 5 days, the Erasmus+ grant needs be paid back according to the corresponding period to the university. The exchange period is confirmed with the Letter of Confirmation document, which needs to be uploaded to Mobility-Online within a month of the end of the exchange. If your exchange has shortened, the International Office will inform you of the amount of the grant to be returned via email. After this, the university will give you an invoice to pay back the given sum. You have 30 days to pay the invoice.

If your exchange period gets extended by at least 14 days, you can receive an additional grant. This requires that the Erasmus+ exchange student informs the International Office of the new exchange period via HelpJYU no later than 30 days before the start of the extended period. Additional grant can be paid based on the message sent via HelpJYU. The extended exchange period is confirmed with the Letter of Confirmation which is uploaded to Mobility Online after the exchange.

Erasmus+ trainees should create and sign a new grant agreement and submit it to the work-life services no later than 30 days before the start of the extension period. No grant is paid for exchange extensions of less than 14 days.

Interruption or cancellation of Erasmus+ exchange

If your exchange or work placement is interrupted prematurely, you may have to return the entire scholarship or part of it. If the duration of the exchange drops below the 2 month limit, the exchange is seen as cancelled and the student will be required to pay the full Erasmus+ grant back. If there is an overpowering obstacle (so called force majeure) which stops the student from completing their studies, the student may not be required to pay back the Erasmus+ grant.

• Force majeure may be defined as an unforeseen event beyond the control of the parties (sending and receiving institution and the student themself) which is also not due to the negligence of the parties.
• In the case of an individual student, a serious illness of the student or their relative, for example, can be considered as a serious obstacle.
• On the other hand, problems caused by inadequate planning of the period abroad or problems caused by inadequate information are not, in principle, considered to be force majeure.
• Sometimes an event (e.g. a natural disaster) can prevent a larger group from starting or continuing an exchange. In this case, the EU Commission will decide if the event will qualify as force majeure.

If the reason for interruption corresponds to the description of force majeure, the University must seek permission from the National Agency to not have to recover all or part of the Erasmus+ grant back from the student. Therefore, the student is required to deliver the following attachments to the university's international services:

• an informal report of the reason for the interruption of the mobility period written by the student (word or pdf)
• a breakdown of the costs of the mobility period (no receipts). In this situation the extra costs caused by being abroad (travel costs, accommodation) are taken into account. However, normal living costs are not taken into account (such as meals).
• a medical certificate in the case of illness (which can be submitted in a sealed envelope)
• Letter of Confirmation from the host university / company (to verify the exchange period)
• information of the actual duration of the exchange period.

The documents can be submitted scanned or in writing to the following addresses: 
international-office@jyu.fi

International Office / Erasmus
University of Jyväskylä, PL 35, 40014 University of Jyväskylä

The Office of the Finnish National Agency for Erasmus+ Programmes handles the matter based on the documents. If force majeure is confirmed to be the cause of the interruption, the Office of the Finnish National Agency for Erasmus+ Programmes will confirm the amount of Erasmus+ grant which the student is entitled to.

Documents to be returned

In order to get the Erasmus+ exchange student scholarship you are required to

• Update the Learning Agreement on Mobility-Online if there has been any changes to the original Learning Agreement during your exchange
• Upload Letter of Confirmation after your exchange period has ended and transcript of records of the studies you have completed during your exchange
• write a study abroad report in Mobility-Online after completing your exchange period. It is possible to substitute the report with a blog. Remember to state the address of your blog before the beginning of your exchange period.
• answer the EU Survey after your exchange period (you will receive a link to it by email

Contact us

Questions about internationalisation? For guidance on student exchange, please contact us through HelpJYU.

HelpJYU form (login required)