Despite its credit rating downgrade last week, the global bank Santander shows no sign of reneging on its contributions to international education. In an announcement yesterday, it said it would provide £120,000 to help Latin Americans study or research at Goldsmiths University, UK, and to back entrepreneurship initiatives.
Luis Juste, director of Santander Universities UK and Portugal, said: “Goldsmiths becomes the 60th UK university and the 13th in London to sign an agreement with Santander.
“Goldsmiths is a leader in the fields of social sciences, humanities and arts and will become an excellent addition to the big Santander Universities family of over 1,020 universities in three continents. We are delighted to have such a reputed institution among our partners.”
Through this latest agreement, the bank will provide seven postgraduate scholarships worth £5,000 each year for an initial three years. It will also provide £5,000 a year in support of activities in entrepreneurship, enterprise and management.
The backing will boost Goldsmith’s existing cohort of more than 100 students from Latin America. Warden of Goldsmiths, Patrick Loughrey, said: “Nurturing and growing our student recruitment and partnerships with international institutions is a key part of our corporate strategy.
“A partner organisation from the business world which understands the central and unique role of universities”
“It is really inspiring to find a partner organisation from the business world which understands the central and unique role of universities in meeting the challenges of the future.”
For 15 years Santander Universities has supported higher education in areas such as teaching and research, student mobility and innovation, and has agreements with academic institutions in the US, Asia and Europe.
