In 2025, the Foundation has continued to support the Bank in its mission to facilitate access to quality education and to ensure the future employment of university students.

In 2025, the Foundation signed partnership agreements with the public universities of Cantabria, Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela, Valladolid and the National Distance Learning University (UNED), as well as two private universities (Villanueva and ESIC), with the goal of supporting programmes that guarantee education, employability and entrepreneurship for their students, graduates and researchers.

Scholarships for doing exchanges in Spain (SICUE) and abroad (Erasmus, non-Erasmus International and Incoming), academic excellence, and pre- and post-doctoral research were offered to facilitate access to learning, along with other financial aid to cover the costs associated with undergraduate, master’s, postgraduate and vocational training programmes.

With the goal of enhancing employability, grants were also awarded to support work placements and allow beneficiaries to undertake micro-credentials or short courses in high-demand fields at partner universities.

Finally, entrepreneurial activity among young students was encouraged through awards granted to the best entrepreneurial project and the most innovative technology- or knowledge-based start-up with ties to the university.

Fundación Banco Santander partnered with Fundación IE and Instituto de Empresa to implement two training programmes designed by experts at IE University.

“Santander X Training | Empower Your Business” is aimed at managers and directors of small and medium businesses in eleven countries who want to learn skills in the areas of business development, internationalization, sustainability, digital transformation and talent management. The 2025 edition was held from 2 to 27 June, and the top performers were chosen to participate in a leadership programme.

The “Innovation & AI Experience in Madrid” is an in-person programme open to young (between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five) residents of thirteen different countries. It focuses on using innovative approaches and artificial intelligence resources to overcome challenges with real-world impact. The registration process was completed in 2025, and the course will be offered from 13 to 24 July 2026. 

Fundación Banco Santander worked with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) to organize two editions of a training programme about integrity in science for PhD candidates in Spain.

The course on good scientific practices offers guidelines for every stage of the research process: project preparation, experiment design and implementation; data collection and processing; presentation and reporting of results; evaluation; and scientific dissemination. It also teaches the principles of scientific integrity which, if internalized, ensure responsible conduct and discourage undesirable practices in research.

The contents are complemented by an analysis of today’s complex scientific system, the obligations of researchers, and relations between scientists and society.

Open Mundo is an online platform for learning foreign languages. Its method uses a combination of live classes, interactive lessons and innovative tools that let students practice every area of language acquisition: reading and listening comprehension, writing, pronunciation and communication skills.

The Foundation sponsored the “Santander Course | Online Spanish 2025” to offer students living in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay a chance to improve their job prospects and boost their career development.

The list of selected participants was made public on 5 November 2025, and the course will be offered from 7 January to 7 July 2026.

The Foundation signed an agreement with the British Council, the UK’s international organization for promoting the English language and culture.

Thanks to this partnership, the two institutions were able to launch “Santander Course | British Council English Online 2025”, open to applicants aged eighteen or over who currently reside in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Argentina or Uruguay. The main goal of this course is to give young people the chance to perfect their English skills in order to improve their career prospects.

The activity will be offered three times over the course of 2025–2026.

Fundación Banco Santander partnered with this academic institution to implement a women’s talent programme and a business education course.

Santander W50 is an annual programme open to female executives in nine countries. A panel selects fifty leading businesswomen from each country, who will have a shot at attending SW50 Global, an event held in London during the last week of June. Additionally, on 16 and 17 October 2025 the British capital hosted the SW50 Summit, where participants were offered talks, lectures and opportunities to strengthen this global women’s network.

The “LSE MBA Essentials 2025” course was made available to residents of thirteen countries interested in learning more about business management. From 24 September to 9 December, experts from the London School of Economics and Political Science taught this free online course in English, Spanish and Portuguese. 

In 2025, the Foundation and Harvard Business Impact launched two free online training programmes for residents in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay. The content was offered in three languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish.

“Business for All”, open to the general public, offered a choice of two courses: “Business Fundamentals”, to master the basics of marketing, finance, negotiation and customer relations, and “Managing Yourself”, to improve decision-making abilities, time management and personal influence.

“Teaching with Purpose” gave university-level instructors strategies for adapting their teaching methods to the latest social and technological changes at every stage of the educator’s journey: planning, imparting and evaluating courses. 

Fundación Carolina promotes cooperation in the fields of education and science between Spain and the rest of the world, especially the countries of Ibero-America.

The Foundation has worked with its training department on two initiatives: “Santander Scholarships | 2025–2026 Postgraduates” and the Young Ibero-American Leaders programme.

The post-graduate scholarships are awarded to residents of Portugal or Latin American countries who are university graduates and have an outstanding academic or professional track record.

The Young Ibero-American Leaders programme invites young people from any of the twenty-two countries in Ibero-America to attend lectures, events and tours that offer insight into the reality of Spain and Europe. Madrid, La Coruña and Brussels hosted the 20th edition of this programme from 16 to 27 June 2025.

Fundación Banco Santander supported several initiatives implemented by Fundación Universia, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote university networking, innovation and study in any area that contributes to the inclusive and sustainable advancement of society.

A programme of accessible digital solutions and a job training course were offered to improve career training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

We also continued to support MetaRed, an ecosystem of over a thousand higher education institutions united by three goals: achieve digital transformation (MetaRed TIC), encourage university entrepreneurship (MetaRed X), and ensure that the university community abides by environmental, social and governance standards.

Fundación Banco Santander is a patron of this public foundation based in Comillas, Cantabria, devoted to the study, research and dissemination of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture.

In recent years, it has adapted to society’s changing demands by focusing on culture, education and social enterprise as drivers of economic growth with the potential to halt the depopulation of this region.

Its university centre, associated with the University of Cantabria, offers a BA in Hispanic Studies, an MA in Spanish as a Second Language, and two specialized post-graduate courses in the areas of health and language technology.

Fundación Comillas also has a training programme that mainly serves adult residents of rural areas in western Cantabria and offers other courses on a variety of subjects in different Cantabrian towns. 

Mujeres por África is a private, non-profit organization that was created to support the political, financial and academic empowerment of African women.

The support of Fundación Banco Santander has enabled it to undertake various projects with universities and other international academic institutions.

The activities carried out thanks to the partnership between the two organizations mainly sought to identify high-impact initiatives that contribute to the advancement of women; work with academic partners to implement programmes that also benefit their communities; and design a plan of action for these women to pass on the education and training they receive in their places of origin.