Earlier this month, the Erasmus Generation Meeting took place in Romania, an international conference on the popular European exchange program in higher
education. Gent was recognized as the destination where international students have the best experience due to the good collaboration between the university and colleges, the city, and the international student association. Gent was awarded the title "Erasmus Destination of the Year 2023".
Frederik De Decker from UGent explains why Gent is the best Erasmus destination: "We competed in the final against Vienna, Valencia, Toulouse, and Padua. We were chosen as the top destination by the European Commission and representatives of various international student associations," says Frederik De Decker from UGent. Gent had to present itself in a short presentation and was able to convince the most people. "We owe this recognition in part to the fact that we welcome students so well and help them with certain pressing issues, such as housing. It is not easy for international students to find accommodation in Gent."
The recognition could mean that Gent appears even more on the radar of European students considering an exchange. "We believe that this will have an impact. There is still room, especially at UGent, to receive more foreign students in Gent," explains De Decker. "There are currently 1,500 Erasmus students in Gent annually, and that number could be slightly increased." He emphasizes that there is also room in the courses.
"Gent is now popular with Spaniards," says De Decker. "Large countries have large groups of students who want to study elsewhere. For example, we also see that many Poles are finding their way to Gent. Germans and French are also well represented. We also have collaborations with smaller countries such as Estonia and Sweden, and now see larger groups from there too."
From cautious experiment to European success The Erasmus program was created 35 years ago. At the time, it was still a cautious experiment. In 1989, the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) was founded in Gent, an international student association that tries to help receive new students in the various host countries. That association now has almost 14,000 members, and around 12 million people have participated in Erasmus throughout Europe. This can be as a student but also as a teacher, professor, or lecturer.
De Decker himself went on Erasmus in 1992 when the program was only four years old. "I didn't even have to convince my family. I was studying Dutch and went to Nijmegen. It was close by, and I could still see my friends and family easily. My mother even thought I should go further away," De Decker laughs. He later became involved as chairman of ESN and is now head of the Internationalization department at UGent. Photo by Vysotsky, Wikimedia commons.