• Annual Report | Responsible Banking 2021
Higher

education

Signing of agreement with the Secretary of Education of Querétaro
Education is the engine that drives the future well-being, growth and progress of the country. It is the means through which we can mitigate the problems society faces. This is why at Santander we invest in higher education through agreements with universities in different countries, scholarship programs and a range of skills required to drive research, innovation and entrepreneurship.



Our major areas of action focus on providing academic support to college students, helping them develop digital skills that will facilitate their insertion into the labor market and improve their employability.









Santander Universities


In order to guarantee the quality education of young people from around the country, we have forged partnerships with the leading institutions of higher education in Mexico through Santander Universities. This is how we help them develop skills and access quality education.



Digital Scholarships

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued offering digital scholarships. Our programs have evolved into online training programs offered through international partners. The focus of the programs also changed to reflect the current situation, and we enriched our content as digital programs have allowed us to maximize our budget given that they imply a lower level of cost. The scholarships are divided into three strategic areas:

• Employment

Programs to help university students develop soft and digital skills and competencies in a range of areas, improving their employability. Some of these programs include:

  • Santander Scholarships - Digital House

    A full-stack web programming course offered by Digital House, the goal of which is to help students dominate the front-end and back- end of a website by using well-known practices and thinking like programmers.

  • Santander Technology Scholarships - Digital Innovation - BEDU

    Training in web development for full-stack, JavaScript and digital business, the goal of which is to drive highly valued digital businesses that have a positive impact on employability.

  • Santander Skills Scholarships – University Leadership
    and Management - OUI

    A course offered in conjunction with the Inter-American University Organization (OUI) through its Institute of University Leadership and Management (IGLU) that focuses on developing skills in the areas of leadership and academic and strategic management in higher education.

  • Santander Technology Scholarships – High Employability
    Skills Development - EMTECH

    A course focusing on training covering data science, content marketing creation and management, and project management in order to drive the development of skills covering emerging technologies that offer high levels of employability.

  • Santander Language Scholarships – English – Slang

    Training course for professional English.

  • Santander Technology Scholarships - Disruptive Skills – BEDU

    Training encompassing data science, mobile Android development and cybersecurity, the goal of which is to drive highly valued digital businesses that have a positive impact on employability.

  • Santander Skills Scholarships – ANUT and Santander Skills
    Scholarships – Consortium of Mexican Universities – CUMEX

    A program focusing on the development of soft and entrepreneurial skills that are widely sought after within the employment market. It is aimed at university students pertaining to the National Association of Technological Universities (ANUT) and the Consortium of Mexican Universities (CUMEX).

  • Santander Study Scholarships – Educational Innovation –
    University of Chile

    A program focusing on driving learning practices through innovative perspectives to help improve the quality of the students learning experiences, in addition to focusing on higher education management and quality assurance.

  • Santander Skills Scholarships – Social Media Marketing – Facebook

    A program focusing on developing digital skills to create and manage advertising campaigns on social media through a partnership with Facebook and Coursera.

  • Santander Language Scholarships – Professional English -
    Slang – UNAM

    English training for professional use aimed at students from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

• Entrepreneurship

Support for university students interested in driving the domestic economy through a range of programs that promote specialist entrepreneurship profiles, including:

  • Santander BEDU Scholarship – Start and Scale

    A program focusing on helping entrepreneurs develop the skills they need to create profitable and successful businesses that are highly valued on the market and have a positive impact on the economy and employability.

  • Santander Scholarships – Startup Building –
    Investment Fund Connection and Innovation

    An online training and acceleration program to pre-create and connect with startup investment funds from the health, agricultural and technology sectors, covering maturity levels TRL3, TRL4, TRL5 and taking an approach that encompasses sustainable innovation.


  • Santander Skills Scholarships – Entrepreneurship – TREPCAMP

    A training diploma course covering the most important entrepreneurship methodologies, which are then applied as part of a fictious case study to create a startup.

• Study

Programs that drive access to education for university students, in addition to helping them develop the skills for their professional careers, including:

  • Santander Study Scholarships – Leaders in Development – FUNED

    A training and mentoring program that helps young people get accepted at one of the world’s top 100 universities to take part in a postgraduate program.

  • Santander Women Scholarships – Supporting Disabled
    Female Students - UNAM – UNAPDI

    A bursary program for female UNAM students who have a disability.

  • Santander Study Scholarships - Future Thinking - Institute
    for the Future

    A program that drives knowledge that focuses on a changing planet and the skills and outlooks of the best futurists in the world to help imagine new possibilities.




  • Santander Study Scholarships - Epidemiology - Johns Hopkins

    A program focusing on promoting essential epidemiological tools for public health through a partnership with Johns Hopkins University and Coursera.

  • Santander Study Scholarships – Employability within the
    Creative Industry– CREHANA

    A program to drive employability within creative industries through business training and a focus on Digital Architecture or 3D Animation.

Santander X Global Challenge - Helping Businesses Prosper

Through our Santander X entrepreneurship platform, we launched an international competition to find innovative solutions that drive the digitalization and efficiency of SME’s. The projects were divided into two categories: Scaleup and Startup. Among the 20 finalists representing 11 countries, there were 3 teams from Mexico, and we are proud to announce that the Mexican startup Social Piper was one of the winners.

Social Piper is an AI-based social media solution that helps SME’s to grow without having to invest in tools to position themselves in the market. As part of the award, the team was presented with a cash prize and offered specialized mentoring on intellectual protection from Oxentia Foundation and the opportunity to present their project to Fintech Station, Banco Santander’s open innovation team.

Santander X – MX Award

Through the Santander X - MX Award, we drive the development of university startups that have a positive impact on the country. It has a MXN $1.6-million prize fund that is shared among the top 6 projects in 2 categories: Accelerate and Launch.

In 2021, the prizes were:

  • •Accelerate: MXN $450,000 for first place, $350,000 for second place, and $300,000 for third place.
  • •Launch: $250,000 for first place, $150,000 for second place, and $100,000 for third place.

UAEM Scholarships and Donation

The Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) received a donation for a building that will house the dance program coordinated by the School of Scenic Arts. We will also offer 600 online scholarships covering a range of areas over the next 3 years, focusing on different areas of learning, as well as the development of technological and soft skills.

We also created a program to offer 10 special scholarships (MXN $500,000 each) to female university students who have a disability. Through actions like these, we are proud to be the financial institutions that most supports Mexican students and higher education.

Explorer Entrepreneurship Program

The Explorer Program is jointly coordinated by the Santander International Entrepreneurship Center (CISE) and Santander Universities. Its goal is to support young entrepreneurs who want to turn their business idea into a viable project through collaborative learning techniques. Over a period of 12 weeks, participants are offered the opportunity to connect with an international community of entrepreneurs and develop the skills they need to transform their projects into sustainable solutions.

This program was previously available only in Spain and Argentina, but during 2021 Mexico and Chile were also included. During summer 2022, the winning teams will take part in the Explorer Trip: an immersion week working alongside hundreds of entrepreneurs at the EIA (European Innovation Academy) Innovation Hub in Porto.