The Erasmus Programme (EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students is a European Union (EU) student exchange programme established in 1987. Erasmus+, or Erasmus Plus, is the new programme combining all the EU's current schemes for education, training, youth and sport, which was started in January 2014.

The idea of allowing the exchange between European students originated in 1969, when Italian Sofia Corradi nicknamed "Mamma Erasmus" educator and scientific consultant of the permanent conference of Italian University Rectors: her role allowed her to raise awareness about this idea and make it known in the academic and institutional sphere.