Scotland has created a new scholarship program to welcome more EU students to its universities.

EDINBURG – “Over the past year we have unfortunately seen a dramatic drop in applications from EU students who wish to study here,” said Jamie Hepburn, the Scottish Secretary of State for Higher Education, in a statement on Thursday. “We want to do everything we can to mitigate the damage caused by Brexit 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)