In addition to the normal study exchange or placement abroad grant, the Erasmus+ programme supports students who would otherwise find it difficult to go abroad for financial or health reasons. The Erasmus+ programme offers students the opportunity to apply for two different types of support, depending on their own personal situation. Below you will find more information about these.

Erasmus+ programme also supports environmentally friendly means of traveling by awarding Green Travel grant.

Erasmus+ Special Needs and Inclusion Grant

Special needs and inclusion grants are intended to enable study exchange or placement in circumstances when a special need causes additional costs that are not covered by other sources. Special need can be an injury, impairment, physical or psychological illness or learning difficulty or some other obstacle in every day life. 

Special needs / inclusion grants are granted in addition to the normal exchange grant. You should find out the need for possible special needs / inclusion grant with LAB International Mobility Services already at the application stage. Special needs / inclusion grants are applied by LAB International Mobility Services from Finnish National Agency for Education. They will review each case individually and the amount of additional grant is based on the needs. 

You should reserve a lot of time for exchange arrangements when you need special arrangements related to, for example, living, moving or studying at the exchange destination. In such cases, it is a good idea to start the arrangements about 6 months before the start of the exchange in cooperation with the host organisation.

Erasmus+ additional support for students who have fewer opportunities than others

Inclusion is one of the main cross-cutting focuses of the Erasmus+ program. Inclusion in mobility is supported e.g. with increased grants for students who have fewer opportunities than others. Students who have fewer opportunities to participate in mobility and who belong to nationally defined groups can receive fixed individual support increases to their normal Erasmus+ grant. The amounts of the grant are specified each academic year.

Fixed increase in individual support

Students who have fewer opportunities to participate in mobility and who belong to nationally defined groups can receive fixed individual support increases to their normal Erasmus+ grant. In Finland these groups are:

Social obstacles:

• family (children under 18 years old)
• family caregivers (agreement on family care with the municipality)

Disabilities:

• students who have an EU disability card, or the right to it
• disabled (at least moderate functional impairment); Functional impairment is defined in Finnish law, and you can review the disability classifications here (unfortunately only in Finnish).

Health obstacles:

• suffer from serious and/or chronic health problems (at least moderate functional impairment)
• Functional impairment is defined in Finnish law, and you can review the disability classifications here (unfortunately only in Finnish).

Migrant background:

• students who have received international protection (refugees, asylum seekers, recipients of international or secondary protection, or the student has a refugee travel document)

In order to receive additional support, you must specify in the online grant application form that you belong to the group entitled to additional support and submit the possible additional documentation to LAB International Mobility Services. You download and upload the required documentation directly from/to LAB Mobility-Online. Follow the workflow and instructions of your application.

Additional grant amounts have been informed in the eLAB pages of the particular mobility types and in the grant announcement.