What Happened to EU-SHARE and What Funds Intra-ASEAN Student Mobility Now
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 07, 2026 • Study in Southeast Asia
The EU-funded SHARE programme ran from 2015 to December 2022 with a EUR 15 million budget, building policy frameworks ASEAN higher education still uses. Since July 2024, SCOPE-HE (EUR 9.3 million, running through 2028) funds EU-ASEAN cooperation, while AIMS and AUN's ACTS still run day-to-day intra-ASEAN student exchange.
📩 SHARE closed officially on December 27, 2022, after a ceremony in Jakarta.
SHARE helped build the ASEAN Quality Assurance Framework and the Roadmap on the ASEAN Higher Education Space 2025.
SCOPE-HE launched July 17, 2024, managed by Nuffic and DAAD.
For semester exchange today, check the AIMS Programme through your home university, not a "SHARE" application.
What EU-SHARE Was
SHARE, short for EU Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region, was a European Union-funded program that ran from 2015 to December 27, 2022, backed by a EUR 15 million EU budget. A consortium led by the British Council, Campus France, DAAD, Nuffic, ENQA and the European University Association implemented the program from 2015 to 2019, with a smaller consortium of British Council, DAAD, ENQA and Nuffic carrying it through an extension phase from 2021 to 2022. The ASEAN Secretariat held SHARE's official closing ceremony in Jakarta on December 6, 2022.
What SHARE Built
SHARE's main output was not scholarships alone. It funded the policy groundwork behind several structures ASEAN students and universities still use today. That includes the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Higher Education Plan of Action covering 2015 to 2025, the ASEAN Quality Assurance Framework (AQAF), and the Roadmap on the ASEAN Higher Education Space 2025. SHARE also supported the ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN) toward becoming a recognized ASEAN entity, and engaged 33 partner universities across the region over its run. The Kuala Lumpur Declaration set out the broad policy direction ASEAN member states agreed to work toward over that decade, covering quality assurance, credit transfer, and student and staff mobility across the region, giving later initiatives like AIMS and ACTS a shared policy backdrop to build on.
Why a Program Like SHARE Has an End Date
SHARE was never designed to run indefinitely. EU-funded regional cooperation programs like SHARE operate on fixed financing periods, and once a program's approved budget and timeline run out, the EU either commits new funding under a new name and scope, or lets the program close. SHARE's initial phase covered 2015 to 2019 with a six-member consortium, followed by a smaller four-member consortium during a 2021 to 2022 extension phase before the program closed for good. SCOPE-HE followed this same pattern: a new EU commitment, a new name, and a new four-year budget cycle running through 2028.
The ASEAN Quality Assurance Framework (AQAF), one of SHARE's outputs, gives ASEAN countries a shared reference for how a national quality assurance agency should operate. AQAN, the network of national quality assurance agencies that SHARE helped formalize as a recognized ASEAN entity, is the body that coordinates around this framework today.
SHARE and SCOPE-HE Timeline at a Glance
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2015 | SHARE launches with a EUR 15 million EU budget |
| 2015 | Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Higher Education Plan of Action adopted, covering 2015-2025 |
| 2021 | SHARE enters an extension phase with a smaller four-member consortium |
| December 6, 2022 | Closing ceremony held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta |
| December 27, 2022 | SHARE officially concludes after 7 years |
| July 17, 2024 | SCOPE-HE launches in Jakarta with a EUR 9.3 million EU commitment |
| 2028 | SCOPE-HE's current funding period ends |
What Continues After SHARE
Three structures SHARE built kept running after the program closed in December 2022:
The ASEAN Working Group on Higher Education Mobility (AWGHEM), which coordinates regional mobility policy.
The RIHED-SHARE Knowledge Platform, hosted by SEAMEO RIHED, which keeps SHARE's research and policy documents accessible.
A proposed joint ASEAN-SEAMEO Declaration on a Common Higher Education Space in Southeast Asia, building on SHARE's policy work.
What Funds Intra-ASEAN Mobility Now
The direct successor for EU funding is SCOPE-HE, the Sustainable Connectivity Package for Higher Education, launched in Jakarta on July 17, 2024 with a EUR 9.3 million EU commitment running through 2028. Nuffic and DAAD manage SCOPE-HE's implementation, and it covers education-industry collaboration, research connectivity between EU and ASEAN institutions, and continued support for regional higher education cooperation, including:
Student and academic mobility support connecting EU and ASEAN institutions.
Research connectivity grants for university clusters working across both regions.
Support for vocational education links and the green transition in higher education.
Backing for digitalization initiatives inside ASEAN higher education systems.
Outside EU funding, day-to-day intra-ASEAN student mobility runs mainly through two ASEAN-owned channels: the SEAMEO RIHED-coordinated AIMS Programme for semester exchange, and AUN's own mobility and credit transfer support through ACTS. Both existed before SHARE and continue independently of EU funding cycles.
What This Means for You
If you see an old reference to a SHARE scholarship, it is not something you can apply for now, since the program closed in December 2022. Check your home university's international office for current AIMS agreements, AUN exchange opportunities, or any SCOPE-HE-linked research or mobility call your institution takes part in. Universities, not individual students in most cases, apply for SCOPE-HE grants and connectivity workshops, so your practical entry point is usually your home university's international office or research office rather than a personal application portal. If your university already worked with SHARE, DAAD or Nuffic on a past project, ask whether it plans to apply for SCOPE-HE funding for your field.