Erasmus is a Program of the European Union which encourages higher education institutions to cooperate with each other.  Erasmus enables higher education institutions to generate and implement joint projects and conduct short term student and staff exchanges.  The participants of the Erasmus program are the full members and candidate members of the European Union.  Erasmus will be carried out under the name of Lifelong Learning Program between the years 2007-2013.

The aim of the program is to increase the quality of higher education in Europe and to present best practices to the utilization of all.  Within the framework of the Bologna Process, the Erasmus program encourages international cooperation between universities, enabling mutual exchange of students and staff, contributing to transparency and academic recognition of degrees acquired.