Erasmus+ Programme in the Field of Higher Education: Cluster Analysis of European Countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35774/visnyk2026.02.167Keywords:
higher education, higher education institution, academic mobility, Erasmus+, project, cluster analysis, EuropeAbstract
This article classifies European countries according to the level and structure of their participation in the Erasmus+ programme in the field of higher education based on a set of quantitative indicators from the 2024 call results, employing cluster analysis. The study employs methods of structural analysis, calculation of relative indicators, and hierarchical cluster analysis. The aggregation of quantitative indicators of Erasmus+ implementation across major education sectors in 2024 reveals a pronounced structural differentiation of the programme in terms of project scale, concentration of financial resources, and levels of institutional involvement. In 2024, a total of 27,761 projects were implemented within the programme, involving more than 62,000 organisations and a total funding volume of approximately EUR 3.69 billion. The results of the structural analysis indicate that higher education plays a system-forming role within the Erasmus+ programme: although it is not the largest sector in terms of the number of projects or participating organisations, it accumulates the majority of financial resources. The analysis of European countries’ participation in Erasmus+ in the field of higher education in 2024 demonstrates a high concentration of project activity. Out of a total of 5,830 higher education projects, almost half were implemented by only five countries: Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland, which together accounted for more than 56% of total Erasmus+ grant funding allocated to higher education. The calculated relative participation intensity indicators confirm significant heterogeneity in countries’ involvement in the programme, while also revealing similar participation configurations among specific groups of countries. The dendrogram obtained from the hierarchical cluster analysis illustrates the grouping of European countries into four clusters based on the similarity of relative participation intensity configurations. The clustering results confirm the existence of several typical participation models that emerge independently of country size or level of economic development. Key clustering factors include the combination of funding intensity, average project scale, and the degree of institutional involvement.
References
Georgoudaki, E., Stavropoulos, S., & Skuras, D. (2025). Regional pathways to internationalization: The role of Erasmus+ in European HEIs. Urban Science, 9(5), Article 144. https://doi. org/10.3390/urbansci9050144. [in English].
Fumasoli, T., & Rossi, F. (2021). The role of higher education institutions in transnational networks for teaching and learning innovation: The case of the Erasmus+ programme. European Journal of Education, 56(2), 200–218. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12454. [in English].
Kłopotowska, P. (2023). Internationalization of education: Motivations and benefits of academic mobility within the Erasmus+ Programme based on the example of Lisbon, Portugal. Edukacja Międzykulturowa, 23(4), 147–163. https://doi.org/10.15804/em.2023.04.10. [in English].
Granato, S., Havari, E., Mazzarella, G., & Schnepf, S. V. (2024). Study abroad programmes and student outcomes: Evidence from Erasmus. Economics of Education Review, 99, Article 102510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2024.102510. [in English].
Nogueiro, T., Saraiva, M., Jorge, F., & Chaleta, E. (2022). The Erasmus+ programme and Sustainable Development Goals: Contribution of mobility actions in higher education. Sustainability, 14(3), Article 1628. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031628. [in English].
Ribeiro, A. (2022). Erasmus at 30: Institutional mobility at higher education in perspective. In The Palgrave handbook of youth mobility and educational migration (pp. 177–185). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99447-1_17. [in English].
Alonso de Castro, M. G., & García-Peñalvo, F. J. (2022). Successful Erasmus+ projects: Some case studies. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 391–405). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05657-4_28. [in English].
Bich Khuyen Dinh, N., Zhu, C., Caliskan, A., & Cheng, Z. (2023). Academic leadership development: An exploratory study on the impacts at the institutional level based on an Erasmus+ capacity building project. SAGE Open, 13(4), Article 21582440231205128. https:// doi.org/10.1177/21582440231205128. [in English].
European Union. (2024). Erasmus+ annual report 2024: Statistical annex. https://op.europa.eu/ en/publication-detail/-/publication/513afdc9-c05c-11f0-a612-01aa75ed71a1. [in English].
European Commission. (n.d.). Erasmus+ programme guide. https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/ erasmus-programme-guide. [in English].
Ishchenko, A. (2025). Interdisciplinary projects of the Erasmus+ strategic partnership: The potential for the development of higher education in the EU and Ukraine. Economics & Education, 10(1), 54–58. https://doi.org/10.30525/2500-946X/2025-1-7. [in English].
Skalmierski, K. M., & Czernicka, Z. (2023). European Universities Initiative – a policy of scientific cooperation on the basis of Transform4Europe and the 4EU+ Alliance. Political Preferences, 31(1–2), 47–64. https://doi.org/ 10.31261/polpre.2023.1.47-64. [in English].
De Wit, H. (2024). Internationalization in and of higher education: Critical reflections on its conceptual evolution. In Internationalization in higher education and research: Perspectives, obstacles, alternatives (pp. 17–31). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47335-7_2. [in English].
Kazantsev, Y. (2025). Teaching staff mobility under the Erasmus+ programme as a driver of internationalisation of German higher education (2018–2023). Educational Analytics of Ukraine, 3(35), 107–122. https://doi.org/10.32987/2617-8532-2025-3-107-122. [in English].
Artyukhova, N., Vorontsova, A., Artyukhov, A., Yehorova, Y., Vasić, S., Rubanov, P., & Vasylieva, T. (2024). Analysis of trends in the structure of higher education market of European countries. Knowledge and Performance Management, 8(2), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.21511/ kpm.08(2).2024.08. [in English].
Bulut-Sahin, B., Uyar, P., & Turhan, B. (2022). The impact of the Erasmus program and the institutional administration of internationalization in Türkiye. Higher Education Governance & Policy, 3(2), 133–146. https://doi.org/10.55993/hegp.1212888. [in English].
Vasylenko, V., & Prysiazhniuk, K. (2024). Strategies for implementing internationalization in higher education institutions. Visnyk Knyzhkovoi Palaty, 8, 30–35. https://doi.org/10.36273/2076- 9555.2024.8(337).30-35. [in Ukrainian].
Gao, C. X., Dwyer, D., Zhu, Y., Smith, C. L., Du, L., Filia, K. M., & Cotton, S. M. (2023). An overview of clustering methods with guidelines for application in mental health research. Psychiatry Research, 327, Article 115265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115265. [in English].
Woolford, J., Haegeman, K., Hazelkorn, E., Cavicchi, A., & Kroll, H. (2025). Tertiary education in place-based transformative innovation (JRC Working Paper Series on Transforming Territories No. 02/2025, JRC144053). European Commission. https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/396764523_Tertiary_Education_in_place-_based_transformative_innovation_JRC_ Working_Paper_Series_on_Transforming_Territories_N_022025. [in English].
