Starting next academic year, the Spanish government is launching a program that can be called a “national version of Erasmus.” This scholarship program will allow students who have received financial aid throughout the academic year study at a school or faculty in another province.

Purpose of the new program

The idea, very similar to the one that the most successful European program has been promoting for decades, is to promote and facilitate the mobility of Spanish students between local universities. It aims to enrich their personal and educational experience, as well as to promote knowledge of the country and territorial cohesion. The program will create 2,300 places in the next academic year and with the number of applicants expected to greatly outnumber the number of scholarships, good academic performance will be a key factor in securing them.

In fact, the new aid program is actually an improved version of the old Séneca scholarships. She was named Luisa Medrano in honor of the first woman to occupy a chair in Spain, at the University of Salamanca, in 1508.

Amount of assistance and quotas

Students eligible for this program will receive assistance of 900 euros per month, and a total of 8,100 euros will be paid in one lump sum. In addition, additional assistance is available for students moving from or to universities outside the Iberian Peninsula. In the first year of the new program, €18.8 million will be allocated and up to 5% of places will be reserved for students with a disability level of 25% or higher.

Who can apply for a scholarship

The competition announcement sets out a number of specific requirements that students must meet to be eligible to receive this assistance.

• The first is to be enrolled in official bachelor’s program at a Spanish university.
• Second, assistance can only be requested for transfer to the second or subsequent years of this program, as students will be required to complete at least 60 academic credits (which means passing all regular courses for the entire course).

In order to qualify for a scholarship, applicants must first have secured a place through the Spanish University Exchange System (SICUE) competition. Additionally, the scholarship can only be applied for full-time university study that requires moving to another province and stay there for nine months (full course).

Compatibility with other payments

These special grants, aimed at promoting mobility between Spanish universities, will be compatible with general scholarships for studying at universitiesprovided by the Ministry of Education, so that students from lower income families will be able to receive both scholarships at the same time. The only thing that in this particular case will not be included in the general scholarship is the amount for accommodation (2700 euros), since it is repeated in the special scholarship. Recipients of Luisa Medrano Scholarships will remain enrolled at their home institution during the move, so they will not have to pay additional tuition fees at the destination university.

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