Bertelsmann Education Group | Krakau / Berlin / Gütersloh, 09/05/2017

Google And Bertelsmann Fund 75,000 New Udacity Scholarships in Europe

Google and Bertelsmann are expanding their online training initiative: The two companies will fund a total of 75,000 scholarships through Udacity to provide free technology education to residents of Europe and beyond. The program builds on last year’s success: When the cooperation was launched in 2016, more than 70,000 applications were received for 10,000 Udacity scholarships. Bertelsmann is one of Udacity’s biggest shareholders.

In response to this high demand, Google has increased the number of Udacity scholarships available to 60,000, extended eligibility to Egypt, Israel, Russia and Turkey, and expanded the program to include both Android and Web Development training. Similarly, Bertelsmann will fund 15,000 Udacity scholarships in the field of Data Science. The partnership aims to prepare new European talent for the digital future.

Of the 60,000 Udacity scholarships funded by Google, 40,000 are reserved for applicants with no programming experience, the remaining 20,000 are reserved for people with 1-3 years of programming. These challenge scholarships provide three months of access to one of four Udacity courses in Web and Android Development. The top 6,000 students in the program earn an additional 6-month scholarship to one of four Nanodegree programs in the respective fields. Applications close on October 15, and scholarships will be awarded by Udacity on October 30. Applications are now being accepted at https://www.udacity.com/google-scholarships  .

Bertelsmann will fund an additional 15,000 Udacity scholarships for beginners and experienced programmers in the field of Data Science. Similar to Google’s scholarships, the scholarship is structured into two parts: After the initial 3-month challenge scholarship program, full Nanodegree scholarships will be awarded to students based on their progress in Phase 1. For this round of scholarships, Bertelsmann will make scholarships available to both its employees and external talent.

Matt Brittin, President, EMEA Business & Operations at Google, said: "Technology opens a world of opportunities, and everybody should have access to them. That’s why we’re announcing the 60,000 Scholarships Challenge for Udacity Android & Web Dev courses today, so that experienced developers and passionate beginners can take their skills to the next level and create new opportunities of their own."

Hays Steilberg, Head of Talent Management at Bertelsmann, adds: "Bertelsmann's businesses are becoming steadily more digital. Accordingly, digital skills and IT expertise are becoming increasingly important, especially in data science. We see it as our responsibility to make as many people as possible fit for the demanding, IT-based tasks of tomorrow’s working world. With this initiative, we would like to approach data science talent, both in-house and externally, and get them excited about Bertelsmann long-term. Google and Udacity are the ideal partners for Bertelsmann in this – as the successful launch of our cooperation last year showed. Now we look forward to expanding our partnership by making a really big commitment!"

Udacity CEO Vish Makhijani commented: "We’re excited to be working closely with Google and Bertelsmann to continue training new talent in Europe and beyond. In less than 9 months, 75,000 people in the region will have the skills needed to advance their careers and shape the digital future. The success stories from the first cohort are inspiring and we look forward to welcoming even more students into the scholarship program next month."

The expanded program builds on the work Google, Bertelsmann, and Udacity are doing to build digital skills across the EU. In the past few years, Google has trained over three million people in the EU in digital skills via its Growth Engine program, helping businesses, entrepreneurs, non-profits, developers, creators, cultural organizations and students succeed online and realize their potential.

Bertelsmann has made both digital training programs for its employees a priority in recent years, offering employees worldwide free access to more than 10,000 e-learning courses. Bertelsmann University – one of Germany’s first corporate universities – presents a wide range of capability and skill-building courses for executives and employees, in areas from strategy and creativity to technology and leadership.

Udacity works with industry leaders to create project-based online learning programs. Our goal is to give as many people as possible the ability to gain the skills needed to get a job, advance their career, and shape the digital future. By partnering with Bertelsmann and Google, Udacity aims to close the digital skills gap and to promote lifelong learning by expanding professional training programs and creating opportunities for new talent through its Nanodegree programs.