Edinburgh (DPA) – Scotland has created a new scholarship program to welcome more students from the European Union to its universities.

“Unfortunately, over the past year we have seen a dramatic drop in the number of applications from EU students who wish to study here,” Scotland’s Secretary of State for Higher Education Jamie Hepburn said in a statement on Thursday. “We want to do everything we can to reduce the damage Brexit has caused and promote Scotland’s educational offerings around the world.”

The programme, which is funded with £2.25 million (about €2.62 million), aims to financially support hundreds of EU students to study at Scottish universities from this autumn. This year, 41 percent fewer EU candidates applied to Scottish universities than last year. Across the UK, the decline was even greater, according to data from the Central Registry UCAS (Universities and College Admissions Service).

With Brexit, Great Britain also withdrew from the EU exchange program Erasmus, with which simpler semesters abroad were possible. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government wants to enable British students to live abroad far beyond Europe with the so-called Turing programme. Foreign students are no longer funded in British universities.

Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold another independence referendum and, in the event of a victory, take her country back from London to the European Union as an independent state. Scots voted against Brexit in 2016 with a clear majority.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211001-99-444114/3