Funding cuts leave ERASMUS students panicking

Worried students have been left in the lurch after ERASMUS slashed their bursary.

And they weren’t even told about the cuts until after they arrived in their host country.

Hannah White is one of the ERASMUS students who were already abroad and studying when they found out the funding that enabled them to go was being cut.

ERASMUS – cultured as fuck

Her International Business Management degree includes a compulsory year abroad, and Hannah chose a semester in Spain. She said: “I thought the funding would be useful.

“I was aspiring to immerse myself in a new culture and experience a new country in general.”

Funding cuts mean less gelato

But it was only when she was in Spain she found out her bursary would be cut. She said: “I was told about the funding cuts two weeks ago.

“Compared to last year, those in Spain received €375 a month, now I receive about €311 a month.”

Students are worrying about paying their bills

This drop in funding came as a total surprise to Hannah, who received no information about it from ERASMUS: “I was informed by my University, who were told by the ERASMUS Committee that they had received an 18% overall reduction in funding payouts. They also delayed payment from October to November.”

Hannah, and other students like her, were left surprised and worried when their funding was so dramatically cut: “Money I had planned to use to travel is now being redirected to rent, which is upsetting to say the least.

“I’m annoyed that ERASMUS has cut funding so significantly and at such short notice. The delivery of the news was poorly handled.”

Better chip in for group dinners

Hannah’s friends on the programme are also feeling the strain. She revealed: “Not everyone is in my fortunate position of having some savings and was reliant on that money.

“We have bills to pay and we were told the funding comes in around October, this has now been pushed to November and we have all had to alter plans to pay rent and bills.”

No more poppin bottles in Budapest

Despite many tweets from frustrated students stuck on ERASMUS programmes around Europe, no mention has been made of the funding cuts on any of the uni’s ERASMUS department’s social media.

It also hasn’t been mentioned on the Facebook or Twitter of the recently launched ERASMUS+ programme, which instead yesterday tweeted the results of a Sexiest Accent Poll.