Erasmus+ exchange versus Erasmus Mundus: which one are you looking at?

They share a name and almost nothing else

Both are funded by the European Union. Both have "Erasmus" in the title. After that they diverge completely — different applicants, different application routes, different outcomes, different odds.

The credit mobility answer most people do not want

If you are an individual in Bangladesh with no current university enrolment, you cannot apply for Erasmus+ credit mobility at all. The mobility is awarded to a partnership between two institutions, not to a person. A European university applies for a project that includes your university; if it is funded, your university's international office runs a selection among its own students.

So the correct first question is not "how do I apply for Erasmus+" — it is "does my department have an inter-institutional agreement, and is a call open". Ask the international office or the relevant dean. If the answer is no, there is no back door, and no agency can create one.

⚠️ Any advertisement offering to place you on an Erasmus+ exchange for a fee is describing something that does not exist. See fake documents and agency fraud.

What Erasmus Mundus actually pays

An Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters scholarship, where awarded, covers:

• Participation costs — the consortium's tuition and administrative charges.
• Travel and installation — a contribution scaled by distance from your home country, which favours applicants from Bangladesh.
• Subsistence — a monthly allowance, roughly EUR 1,400 at the time of writing.

The exact amounts are set in the annual Erasmus+ Programme Guide and revised, so check the current guide rather than an article. What is stable is the shape: this is genuine full funding, not a tuition discount, and it is one of very few schemes that pays a Bangladeshi student a European living allowance.

The competitiveness, honestly

Erasmus Mundus is a global competition. A Bangladeshi applicant is ranked against strong candidates from every continent, for a small number of scholarships per programme. Consortia publish how many scholarships they have; almost none publish applicants per place, so nobody can give you a real percentage.

Compare that structure with Stipendium Hungaricum, where places are allocated to Bangladesh under a bilateral agreement and the competition is domestic. Neither is a plan on its own. Applying to both, in the same autumn, is a reasonable plan.

How to apply to an Erasmus Mundus programme

1. 1Find the programme in the official catalogue. The EU maintains a catalogue of currently funded joint Master's programmes. Search it by subject, not by country — the point of the format is that you move.
2. 2Read the individual consortium's page. Each one sets its own eligibility, documents and deadline. There is no single common form.
3. 3Check the deadline early. Most close between October and January for the following September. Missing it costs a year.
4. 4Prepare the file: degree certificate and transcripts, English proficiency evidence, a motivation letter written for a scholarship, recommendation letters, and a Europass CV.
5. 5Apply to more than one. Two or three well-matched consortia beat one perfect application.

The longer walkthrough is at Erasmus Mundus from Bangladesh.

Which one is your question?

• Currently enrolled at a Bangladeshi university and want a semester in Europe: ask your international office about credit mobility.
• Finished or finishing a Bachelor's and want a Master's degree in Europe: Erasmus Mundus, alongside national schemes and self-funded applications.
• Want to move permanently: neither is a migration route. An exchange ends with you back in Bangladesh, and a joint Master's ends with the ordinary post-study options.