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European Student Card Initiative

Part of the Erasmus+ programme

About the European Student Card

The journey of the European Student Card began in 2016 as an EU-funded project. It gave students an easy access to services across Europe with no need to issue a new student card during their mobility. Since then, the European Student Card has been scaled-up to become a building block of the European Student Card Initiative.  
Student holding a card and a mobile

Simplifying student mobility

The European Student Card (ESC) simplifies student mobility in Europe. It enables higher education institutions to seamlessly and reliably verify a student’s status at European level. 

Student status verification means confirming that a student is currently enrolled at a university or other  higher education institution. 

By joining the ESC system and building upon existing physical or digital student cards, higher education institutions can centralise specific student card data, cut paperwork and promote green and digital transition. 

Students travelling across Europe for their education will get easier access to services - both on and off campus - offered by their host institution. This means a better, more connected mobility experience and a sense of belonging to the European higher education community. 

Targets

The target for 2025 is that as many European students as possible can benefit from an ESC in their pocket, or digitally on their phone, making their access to on- and off-campus services (e.g. access to building, libraries services, discounts on transports) easier and their Erasmus mobility experience simpler. 

During 2022-2025, the European Student Card should

  • become more widely available in all Erasmus+ programme countries
  • bring more possibilities for validation of student status by higher education institutions and student service providers
  • become more widely used by higher education institutions and student service providers
  • increase the offer of digital student cards by higher education institutions in all Erasmus+ programme countries

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