Nearly 100 Erasmus+ students will spend the autumn semester at Kauno kolegija
This week, the Kauno kolegija community was once again joined by Erasmus+ students arriving from various foreign countries. Nearly 100 students from 16 different countries – ranging from neighbouring Poland to distant Mexico – will spend the autumn semester at the institution.
Deimantė Stankevičė, Incoming Mobility Coordinator at the International Relations Unit, reveals that this time, the majority of students have arrived for the Law, Logistics, Sales and Marketing, Software Systems, English for Public Relations, and Design study programmes.
‘Over the last couple of years, the list of the most popular study programmes has changed significantly. Three to four years ago, we used to receive a large number of students in the following programmes: Midwifery, General Practice Nursing, Tourism and Hotel Management, and International Business,’ says D. Stankevičė.
Meanwhile, the countries from which exchange students arrive have remained consistent over the past few years, according to her: ‘For five years, students from Spain, Turkey, Greece, and Georgia have been steadily coming to Kauno kolegija. Over the last few years, students from Mexico, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Germany have also been increasingly choosing Lithuania and Kauno kolegija.’
She is pleased that consistent cooperation with partners from these countries has yielded excellent results – a steady stream of student exchanges. Discussing the shifts in the study programmes chosen by incoming students, D. Stankevičė believes that students’ perspectives on their futures and their priorities are changing.
‘More and more students are choosing study programmes that offer the possibility of receiving immediate job offers upon graduation or starting their own businesses. Changes in country trends occur for slightly different reasons. Every year, faculties update their priority higher education institutions within and outside Europe; consequently, one can observe where closer cooperation and joint projects are taking place,’ notes D. Stankevičė.
Having met with the Erasmus+ students, D. Stankevičė says she has already heard their first impressions of Kaunas and Lithuania: ‘Several students shared that the weather in Kaunas is unpredictable. Others were surprised that everything in Lithuania is so green and modern. Students were also pleased that during the few days they have already spent in Kaunas, they faced no language barriers – the people they encountered spoke English.’
