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Erasmus+

EU programme for education, training, youth and sport

Digitalisation rates and trends

Progress towards European Student Card Initiative targets, and how the Erasmus+ community is working together on reaching them.

On this page

  • What we mean by digitalisation
  • Rates and trends
  • Benefits for institutions and students
  • Closing the gaps and where to get help
  • European Student Card trends

What do we mean by digitalisation?

Simplifying mobility administration and improving the mobile student experience is a joint effort by the whole Erasmus+ community. They are at the heart of the European Student Card Initiative (ESCI) as it works to promote simpler student exchanges and a strong European student identity.

The aim of ESCI is to digitalise internal procedures and improve data exchanges between IT systems connected to the Erasmus Without Paper (EWP) network.

Digitalistion targets mean

  • reaching 95% of learning agreements being completed digitally by 2025 (for exchanges within Europe) through Erasmus Without Paper
  • encouraging as many students in Europe as possible to hold a European Student Card

Rates and trends

There is a positive change towards digitalisation of learning agreements across the Erasmus+ programme countries.

There are still wide differences between the amounts of learning agreements handled offline.

Strong growth towards digitalisation of learning agreements is seen in almost all countries.

What does this data show?

Reporting from EU countries shows that

  • digital processing of learning agreements through the Erasmus Without Paper is now the preference by a majority of ECHE (Erasmus Charter for Higher Education) holders at more than 60% by February 2025. This demonstrates that Erasmus Without Paper has matured into a mainstream tool that works efficiently
  • there are still major discrepancies in level of digitalisation across higher education institutions. This is having a negative impact on efficient collaboration on learning agreements and return of investment in digitalisation
  • there's still an urgent need to press on with the action plan, but with a focus on countries with a low digitalisation rate and with support for smaller institutions

A closer look at digitalisation rates of learning agreements

(Data for the map below comes from Microsoft PowerBI and may load with a short delay)

What are the benefits for institutions and students?

There are substantial potential gains as a result of digitalising the management of Erasmus+ mobilities, including on admin burden, time saving, and the resulting chance to improve the quality of exchanges.

Efficiency Gains and Impact Analysis from Spanish, Italian, and Turkish Universities

Interviews from EWP champion universities on their experiences

Digitalisation will also help institutions get ready for the next Erasmus+ programming period. This will rely even further on the ability of institutions to work digitally to achieve the programme's necessary efficiency, simplification and agility.

How can we close the remaining gaps?

All Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) holders should invest in digitalisation. It is considered a key tool to support further simplification and inclusion in the next Erasmus+ programme.

Erasmus Without Paper’s technical service is there to support higher education institutions in digitalising learning agreements. The main barrier for institutions to adopt to EWP is a lack of capacity to invest in the transition. This is especially for smaller institutions who have relatively few student exchanges and might not have the staff or IT resources to invest in digitalisation.

Get help

National Erasmus+ agencies play an active role in ensuring progress towards the 95% target.

Many support and outreach and support events including national ESCI days are run by the ESCI community. You can also connect with peers via the EWP user groups, or benefit from the experience of the EWP Champions.

You can subscribe to our newsletter for events and updates, and reach out to your national agency.

Other relevant trends (European Student Cards)

By the end of 2023, 2.3 million student cards had been transformed into European Student Cards (ESCs). This represents a 66% annual increase compared to 2022. 

242 higher education institutions across 16 European countries issue ESCs, compared to 169 institutions in 12 countries a year before.

There is an uneven level of adoption across Erasmus+ countries. 

For example, Lithuania now manages ESCs centrally on behalf of its higher education institutions has reached a 93% adoption rate (based on 27 ECHE holders out of 29). In comparison, France has the largest number of ESC issuers at 152, but only a 9% adoption rate compared to the over 1,600 ECHE holders nationally.

National context matters as implementation varies from country to country depending on factors such as card issuance arrangements, the type of issuers or the kind of card technology preferred by higher education institutions.

What we are doing 

To help close the gaps and onboard higher education institutions in countries where ESC are not being issued, we're working to support the communities by