The University of Murcia welcomes 700 new international students for the course 2025-26
18 Nov 2025700 students from all around the world join the University of Murcia in September through mobility programmes managed by the International Relations Area. This data will be increasing during the second semester (four-month period) with the arrival of new international students, along with the UMU students who will undertake stays abroad, reaching over 2300 mobilities.
The University of Murcia Vice-Rectorate for Internalization, at the start of the 2025/26 academic year, organises the International Welcoming Week #WelcomeDays, a programme of activities and events designed for international students who join our university in September, helping them get to know our city, region and culture during their first weeks of stance.
The programme of activities, developed from the 22nd September to the 5th October, include guided tours, excursions to Cartagena and Granada, linguistic tandems and outdoor activities, among others, can be revised at the website https://www.um.es/web/iwp/eventos/welcomedays.
On Tuesday 30th September, as part of these activities, the International Welcoming Week Institutional Induction in the Romea Theatre was held. The event, led by authorities from our city and university, offered a unique opportunity to welcome our international students in one of Murcia’s most iconic venues.
Thus, in the event managed by Carmen Escribano and Roberto de Gea, mobility technicians, have participated Belén López Cambronero, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Education and Citizen Services of the City Council of Murcia; Juan Mª Vázquez Rojas, Minister of Environment, Universities, Investigation and the Mar Menor of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia; Pascual Cantos Gómez, Vice-Rector of the University of Murcia and Jaime Hernández Oñate, Board Member for Internationalization and Social Responsibility of the UMU Students Council (CEUM), who said a few warm words of welcome to what will be their city for the coming months. Also in attendance were David Martínez Victorio, UMU International Relations Area Manager; Fulgencio Perona Baños, Deputy Mayor-Councillor for Public Safety and Emergencies of the City Council of Murcia; Antonio Caballero Pérez, [1]CARM General Manager of Universities and Research; Mª Dolores Almagro Sánchez, University of Murcia Manager; Lucía Serna Martínez, CEUM President, in addition to international vice-deans from several UMU faculties, just as International Relations staff. The event concluded with a lively performance by the Modern Section of the University Choir.
2300 mobilities during the course 2025/26
In this first semester (four-month period), the UMU receives 687 international students, with the expectation that other 250 students will be incorporated. The majority of international mobilities takes place through the Erasmus+ Studies Programme with European countries (537). Mobility flows with Latin America mainly occur under the Exchange Programme with Latin America universities, through which we receive 88 students in the first semester. Moreover, thanks to the agreements with the Carolina Foundation, we receive in the UMU 7 Master students. Mobility with the United States is mainly made through the ISEP Programme with 10 new students, plus 3 received with the International Mobility through Bilateral Agreements Programme, that also includes universities in China, South Corea and Taiwan. Finally, through the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility Programme with third countries (KA171), the University welcomes 18 students from outside the EU this semester, from countries like Albania, Angola, Armenia, Georgia, Palestine and Ukraine. It is expected to increase this number with the arrival of new students in the second semester from countries like Burkina Faso, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Canada and Ghana.
On the other hand, during the first semester, 1000 students from the University of Murcia study abroad at partner universities. Thus, 851 students will do it in some of the 400 European partner universities through the Erasmus+ Studies Programme, 65 in Latin America with the Latin America universities Programme, and 19 in the United States and Asian countries with the ISEP and Bilateral Agreements programs.
So far, in the present semester, 35 UMU students take part in different Blended Intensive Programs (BIP), a sort of the Erasmus+ Programme which combines face-to-face teaching with virtual one. It is expected a similar turnout to last year, with over 200 students enrolled.
Under the Erasmus+ Traineeships Programme, 26 students will participate in the first of the four stages of this call for applications during the first semester, and it is expected that over the course about a hundred of UMU students move to make stays in European companies and universities. Additionally, a total of 20 students have taken part in the Erasmus+ Traineeship Programme through the Language Asssistant Programme, with Ireland standing out as the main sending country.
This way, throughout the course, the University of Murcia will handle around 2300 international mobilities, both inward and outward, being 1700 in this first semester.
Traslation carried out by Lorena Gómez-Vazquez Álvarez, student of 4th year English Studies “Grado de Traducción e Interpretación” at the University of Murcia.
[1] CARM refers to the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia (ACRM)
