Santander is the only global bank with a dedicated arm supporting international education. José Antonio Villasante, director of Santander Universities, and Luis Juste, head of Santander Universities UK talked to The PIE.
The PIE: Why was Santander Universities division set up?
Luis Juste: Well it was an idea that was started 15 years ago and it was really the idea of Emilio Botín (head of Santander bank). He just came to the realisation that we were doing very well as a bank, we were increasing our presence internationally and expanding, so it was really about time we gave back to society what society gave us. Without any doubt the best investment any bank can make is to invest in the future, and the future is our universities.
Then José Antonio Villasante, who is the head of Santander Universities globally, together with Mr Botín in a very personal way defined the model which is very simple: we go to universities and say, How can we help you? That’s all we do.
The PIE: It’s become an enormous entity.
José Antonio Villasante: Yes, we have 1,020 universities worldwide, and 2,500 employees around the world dedicated full time to supporting universities. We have divisions in 18 countries to give service to universities, the staff and teachers, research and overall education. Over 15 years we have dedicated €800million to support higher education through sponsorship, and to help promote more than 40,000 university projects. It’s now a fundamental part of the bank’s brand.
LJ: Just last year we gave out more than 21,000 scholarships. It’s incredible if you think about it. But it’s not only about funds, not only about money. The value added through partnership is the essence of our model. We want to develop relationships between all the countries in which we are present, and try to bring together all the universities and make the most out of that.
“We go to universities and say, How can we help you? That’s all we do”
The PIE: Are you really the only university arm of a bank anywhere in the world?
LJ: Unfortunately in a way for us that’s true, and in 15 years not one other institution has followed us. It would have really been more easy if there had been someone else doing it, we would just have to copy. But in this case we just built it as we created it. But what better place to learn than with universities? They taught us everything we know, and this unique programme is really part of our image as a bank.
The PIE: Can you give me some examples of projects you run?
LJ: The way it works is quite simple. We believe that when you want to help someone, you want to let that someone decide what he wants. So each agreement is tailor made, by each university, using the funds and sources they need. Most will use this for scholarships to promote international mobility or entrepreneurship. It’s really loads of things because each of our partners has a tailor made situation.[More>>]
LJ: At the same time we have global initiatives, like the Formula Santander scholarship initiative [a spin-off of the bank’s sponsorship of F1] backed by drivers such as Lewis Hamilton. Or the 500 internship programmes that you saw we launched in London recently. And those are given to the universities as part of their Santander Universities packages.
As to what it can cover, I wouldn’t know where to start and where to end: it goes from funding students who want to carry out research, to funding those doing athletics. There’s one university in the UK that uses our funds to support sports that are not popular enough and without us would probably be stopped. Others are using it to stage debates on economic issues, others to incubate the business ideas of students. It’s really endless.
The PIE: So a big part of the philosophy is giving universities autonomy over how they spend the money.
LJ: Absolutely. Nobody but the vice chancellor knows what a university needs. So each university decides.
“In 2012, two per cent of the profit of the bank has been dedicated to support universities”
The PIE: Do you think that the world of finance and the private sector more generally are doing enough to support international education?
JAV: I think no, but at Santander yes we do. In 2012, two per cent of the profit of the bank as a group worldwide has been dedicated to support public and private universities. For us, education is a focus and we need to support it as a strategic goal.
The PIE: Are internationally educated graduates important for companies like Santander?
LJ: Absolutely. We are a global bank, we are present in 40 countries. So when we look for people to work with us we are looking for people with global minds, and who have open minds. And without universities giving that international preparation, we wouldn’t be able to get those employees.
The PIE: Should more be done to get kids studying abroad so they’re ready for the global workforce?
LJ: Yes. This month we launched new Formula Santander scholarships to get more students coming and going from the UK, Spain and Latin America. And we launched grants to encourage UK students to have an international experience, because for us it is a concern that UK students are not getting as much international experience as they should.
“UK students are not getting as much international experience as they should”
They have English and the best universities in the world so maybe that explains why they are not so keen on moving around. But it’s not all about languages and it’s not all about study. It’s really about the experience you get when you study abroad.
The PIE: For the future what is your vision for Santander?
JAV: We have an alliance with the governments in 18 countries worldwide. They see us as part of them, and we respect them. Now we need to be in the five continents, with 1,500 top universities worldwide, and we need to take into consideration the last 10 years. The number of students in the world has increased dramatically and will continue to increase, and we want to continue to be useful to them.
