Planning exchange studies abroad

• Before applying, please contact with your departmental Erasmus+ coordinator and discuss your possibilities to study abroad.
• A student doing their long-term Erasmus+ exchange studies abroad has to earn at least 1 ECTS/per semester for the courses taken at hosting university, and has to get those courses and credits recognized by Tallinn University as integral parts of his/her Study Programme.
• A student doing their short-term Erasmus+ exchange studies abroad has to earn at least 3 ECTS/per semester for the courses taken at hosting university, and has to get those courses and credits recognized by Tallinn University as integral parts of his/her Study Programme. If this rule is not followed by the student, then he/she is obliged to refund the whole Erasmus+ scholarship.
• All students  who take at least 15 ECTS worth of courses per semester at the hosting university, transfer these back to TLU, and get these courses recognized as fulfilling their TLU Study Programmes, will be granted the official extension of the nominal study-period by the number(s) of semester(s) they were abroad as an exchange student (however they need to pay the tuition fee to TLU for such semester(s)). 
• Sometimes also the hosting universities themselves set a minimum ECTS requirement to be obtained by exchange students.
• Students who have been allowed on studies abroad must compile the final learning agreement for studies at the foreign university with the help of the administrator of the study programme or the coordinator. When preparing this document, a student has to take into account that after the end of his/her exchange studies, Tallinn University has to also recognize the courses and credits obtained abroad. This means that the courses taken abroad have to be transferred back to Tallinn University, and be considered as integral parts to student's TLU Study Programme. That is why it is important to involve your Study Programme administrator in the process of choosing courses from host university and comparing them to your TLU courses. Learning Agreement fixes those courses which will be taken at the hosting university, and also fixes how these courses will be recognized later on at home university (as compulsory, elective course, open elective course etc.).

       More information about the learning agreement can be found here.

• Remember that it is almost impossible to have a study-plan (when doing the online-application) or the Learning Agreement, which will not have to be changed/updated. On the contrary, it is completely normal that amendments need to be introduced to the initially filled out study-plan and to the Learning Agreement. Usually the changes to initially agreed and signed Learning Agreement happen right after the arrival at hosting university. However, it is crucial to keep in mind that all changes have to be agreed in writing, i.e. changes to Learning Agreement have to be made by filling out the "During the mobility part" of your Learning Agreement, and the signatures from your Study Programme administrator/Erasmus departmental coordinator, the contact person at hosting university, and yourself have to be collected again. 

      More information about the changes to online learning agreement and study period can be found here.