An Erasmus+ internship in 2026 is open to any legally established EU-based organisation, including SMEs, startups, and non-profits. No accreditation is required. Students receive between EUR 400 and EUR 700 per month directly from their home university, funded by the European Commission. The host company pays nothing from the Erasmus+ grant, though many choose to pay an additional stipend on top.
This guide is written for HR managers, operations teams, and career services coordinators who are evaluating whether to accept Erasmus+ trainees for the first time, or who want to understand the programme better before agreeing to a student's request. For student-facing guidance, see our companion article on applying for Erasmus+ traineeships as a student or the guide for Indian students on European stipend internships.
Erasmus+ has two separate tracks: Erasmus Study (student goes to a partner university) and Erasmus+ Traineeship (student goes to a company or other organisation). This guide covers the Traineeship track only. Companies host the Traineeship track -- not the Study track.
What is an Erasmus+ Traineeship?
The Erasmus+ Traineeship programme (sometimes called Erasmus+ Placement or Erasmus+ Praktikum) allows students enrolled at a participating European university to complete a work placement abroad while receiving a monthly mobility grant from the European Commission. The programme is administered nationally -- in Germany by DAAD, in Poland by FRSE, in Spain by SEPIE, in the Netherlands by Nuffic.
From the host company's perspective: you are agreeing to supervise a student employee (or intern) for 2-12 months. You do not fund the Erasmus+ grant. You do co-sign a document called the Learning Agreement that sets out what the student will do, learn, and be assessed on. That document is the backbone of the entire arrangement.
Host company requirements
To be eligible to host an Erasmus+ traineeship student, your organisation must meet the following criteria:
- Legally established in an Erasmus+ programme country (all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey, North Macedonia, and Serbia).
- Not an EU institution (European Commission, European Parliament, European agencies -- students from EU institutions are not eligible for this track).
- Not the student's home university (a student cannot do their Erasmus+ traineeship at the university they are enrolled at).
- Able to provide a named supervisor who can oversee the student's work and complete the assessment at the end.
- Willing to co-sign the Learning Agreement -- a three-party document between the student, the home university, and the host organisation.
There is no minimum company size, no sector restriction, and no prior accreditation required. A 5-person startup in Tallinn and a 50,000-person multinational in Amsterdam are equally eligible to host Erasmus+ trainees.
How much do Erasmus+ interns receive?
The student receives a monthly grant paid by their home university. The amount depends on which country the student is coming from and which country they are going to. As of the 2026 programme guide:
| Sending country tier | Monthly grant to destination in Group A (DE, NL, FR, AT, FI, SE, NO, IE, DK, IS, LI, LU) | Monthly grant to destination in Group B (ES, IT, PT, CZ, PL, GR, SK, HR, SI, LV, LT, EE, CY, MT, RO, BG, HU, MK, RS, TR) |
|---|---|---|
| Group 1 -- lower-cost countries sending to higher-cost countries | EUR 670 - 700 | EUR 530 - 600 |
| Group 2 -- medium-cost countries | EUR 600 - 650 | EUR 480 - 530 |
| Group 3 -- higher-cost countries sending to lower-cost countries | EUR 450 - 550 | EUR 400 - 480 |
These figures are the standard Erasmus+ grants. Students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, and students from under-represented regions may receive supplementary grants. The exact amounts are set annually by the national agencies and can vary slightly by institution.
The host company is not required to pay the Erasmus+ grant. However, a company can choose to pay an additional stipend on top of this grant. In Germany, it is common for host companies to pay EUR 400-800/month additional stipend. In the Netherlands, EUR 300-700/month is typical. This additional pay is entirely at the company's discretion and does not affect the student's Erasmus+ grant.
Duration and timing
Erasmus+ traineeships have the following duration rules for 2026:
- Minimum duration: 2 months (60 calendar days).
- Maximum duration: 12 months per higher education cycle (bachelor, master, doctoral).
- Recent graduates: Students can also do an Erasmus+ traineeship within 12 months of graduating, as long as they were nominated before graduation. These are sometimes called "graduate traineeships."
- Timing: Traineeships can happen during the academic year or during summer -- there is no restriction on the calendar placement.
From a planning perspective: students typically begin approaching host companies 3-6 months before their intended start date. The Learning Agreement needs to be signed before the placement begins -- ideally 4-8 weeks before the start date to allow the home university to process the grant.
How to register as a host organisation
There is no central Erasmus+ host company registration database that companies sign up to in advance. The process is initiated by the student, not the company. Here is how it works in practice:
- A student contacts you with an Erasmus+ traineeship proposal. This may come directly via email, through a placement agency like Internship Abroad, or through your existing networks.
- You evaluate the student's proposal and decide whether the role is suitable. The student will have already confirmed with their university that the internship content qualifies for Erasmus+ (it must be related to their field of study and provide genuine professional development).
- Co-sign the Learning Agreement. The student prepares the Learning Agreement document. It states: internship start and end dates, the student's tasks and responsibilities, the learning outcomes, the language of supervision, and the name of the supervisor. You sign it as the host organisation; the home university also signs it.
- The student departs and begins. No further administrative steps are required from the company during the placement, beyond normal supervision.
- Issue a completion certificate at the end. At the close of the placement, the supervisor completes a short evaluation form confirming the student completed the traineeship. This is the final document required for the student to receive their Erasmus+ certificate. The template is usually provided by the home university.
Hosting an Erasmus+ intern is essentially the same as hosting any other intern -- you hire them, supervise them, and they work on real projects. The only additional administrative step is co-signing the Learning Agreement (typically one page) and completing a brief evaluation at the end. Many companies find the process simpler than they expected.
Why host an Erasmus+ traineeship student?
Beyond filling a real role, there are three practical reasons companies find Erasmus+ traineeships valuable. First, the talent pool is large: over 300,000 students do Erasmus+ traineeships annually, and many are highly motivated because they have actively applied for competitive spots. Second, the international diversity is built in -- Erasmus+ students come from across Europe and beyond, which is particularly valuable for companies building multilingual teams. Third, the administrative overhead is low -- you are not sponsoring a visa, not managing grant paperwork, and not paying a recruitment fee. The student and their university handle the bureaucracy.
To see how students present themselves when applying for international internships, look at this example business student profile or the example marketing profile on our platform.
Working with Internship Abroad to find Erasmus+ candidates
If you are actively looking to hire Erasmus+ trainees rather than waiting for inbound applications, you can partner with a placement platform. Internship Abroad connects verified international students with European host companies across 30+ cities. Companies post roles, students apply, and we handle the early-stage screening. Register your organisation and start receiving applications from motivated European students.
Further reading: see the full Erasmus+ grant amount breakdown for 2026 by country group to understand exactly what your intern receives each month, or read our institutional Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026 for a full overview of KA1, KA2, and KA3 funding streams. If you are interested in the student perspective, our guide to internship minimum wages in Europe covers what interns are legally entitled to receive from the company on top of their Erasmus+ grant.