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University of Copenhagen
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Coronavirus

Students are raring to go: More than ever want to study abroad

While universities worldwide were closed due to corona, the number of students on exchange reached an all-time low. Now that the world is beginning to open again, more students are applying to study abroad.

As corona shut down most of the world, a small number of students were able to travel abroad to study. But not many.

According to statistics from the University of Copenhagen, around 270 students went abroad in the autumn of 2020, and just a few more in the spring of 2021. Before corona took hold, around 1,000 students went on exchange each semester.

SEE ALSO: Studying abroad during corona »was a magical experience«

The University of Copenhagen has already received 791 outbound study abroad applications for the autumn semester this year – and expects to receive hundreds more in the coming months.

»The vast majority of the universities that are accepting applications hope that students will have a fairly normal semester,« says Anne Bruun, head of section at the Department of International Education at the University of Copenhagen.

Australia and New Zealand will not accept students

However, Anne Bruun warns that there may be unforeseen changes at the host universities abroad.

»Depending on how the covid-19 situation develops around the world, exchange visits might be cancelled or end up as online study from Denmark or the host university,« says Anne Bruun.

However, not all universities in the world are open, says Anne Bruun:

»Some universities outside of Europe – especially in Australia and New Zealand – have cancelled exchanges for the autumn semester.«

»Many students only have one chance to go on exchange, because their curriculum only allows for it in a specific semester,« says Michael Jerking, manager of marketing and partnerships at EDU-Denmark, a travel company that specialises in student travel.

»It probably won’t be the same as before corona, but there will be in-person classes, opportunities to socialise and lots of other things to go out and experience,« says Michael Jerking.

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