Student travel in Europe has become a major phenomenon in the past 25 years. Annually Dalarna University gives students the opportunity of spending part of their studies at one of the partner universities abroad. Despite the support from the International Office, financial support from the government as well as the fact that international experiences have become an important attribute of young academics and future employment, the university has experienced a low demand of applicants. Thus, Dalarna University has made it their mission to promote so-called sojourning (the time of their studies that students spend at a university abroad) among their students, especially Swedish students. This thesis has the purpose of studying the motives, experiences and attitudes of Swedish students towards sojourning.
The findings of this research, which were collected through semi-structured interviews with staff of Dalarna University as well as with 14 students, have shown connections between the results and previous literature. For example, the interviews with the sojourners have demonstrated that more than half of the interviewees have decided to participate in the Erasmus programmes in order of receiving a change of environment. Furthermore, a majority of students agree their time abroad has had an effect on their personal development in terms of confidence and independence. Finally, the interviews have given the author an insight on issues that were perceived by the student during the process of planning the sojourn, such as a lack of communication and information before, during and after the time spent abroad.