Google and Bertelsmann fund 75,000 new Udacity scholarships in Europe

Google to fund 60,000 Udacity scholarships in the field of Web and Android Development
Bertelsmann to fund an additional 15,000 Udacity scholarships in the field of Data Science
Launch builds on success of last year’s Android scholarship programme, where 70,000 people applied for 10,000 places
The programme will cover both Android, Web and Data Science courses, and includes Israel, Turkey, Egypt and Russia in addition to EU and EFTA countries
The initiative aims to close the digital skills gap in the region and is an important step in Google and Bertelsmann’s investment into European talent

Today, Google and Bertelsmann announce that they are to fund 75,000 scholarships through Udacity to provide free technology education to residents of Europe and beyond. The launch builds on the success of last year’s programme, where 70,000 people applied for 10,000 Udacity scholarships.

In response to such high demand and the success of the previous year’s programme, Google has increased the number of Udacity scholarships available to 60,000, extended eligibility to Egypt, Israel, Russia and Turkey, and expanded the programme to include both Android and Web Development training. Similarly, Bertelsmann will fund 15,000 Udacity scholarships in the field of Data Science. This is the next step in a partnership which 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 programme earn an additional 6-month scholarship to one of four Nanodegree Programmes in the respective fields. Applications close on October 15, and scholarships will be awarded by Udacity on October 30. Applications are open at https://www.udacity.com/google-scholarships .

Bertelsmann will also fund an additional 15,000 Udacity scholarships. These scholarships are for beginners and experienced programmers in the field of Data Science.

Similar to Google’s scholarships, the scholarship is structured in two parts: After the initial 3-month challenge scholarship program, full Nanodegree scholarships will be awarded to students based on the 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, Google: “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, Bertelsmann: "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!”

Vish Makhijani, CEO, Udacity: “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 needed skills 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 programme builds on the work Google, Bertelsmann, and Udacity are doing to build digital skills across the EU:

In the last few years Google has trained over three million people in the EU in digital skills via its Growth Engine programme, helping businesses, entrepreneurs, non-profits, developers, creators, cultural organisations and students succeed online and realise their potential.

Bertelsmann has made both digital training programmes 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 programmes. 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 programmes.

About Google Inc and Alphabet Inc
Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in September 1998. Since then, the company has grown to more than 50,000 employees worldwide, with a wide range of popular products and platforms like Search, Maps, Ads, Gmail, Android, Chrome, and YouTube. In October 2015, Alphabet became the parent holding company of Google. You can read more about Alphabet’s mission here: https://abc.xyz/

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 116,000 employees and generated revenues of €17.0 billion in the 2016 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.

About Udacity
Udacity works with industry leaders to create project-based online learning programmes. These unique collaborations ensure that students learn the technology skills that employers value most. Udacity offers courses in mobile and web development and data science, as well as virtual reality, artificial intelligence or self-driving car engineering. In addition to 150 free courses, Udacity offers 17 flagship Nanodegree programmes. Udacity’s Nanodegree programmes are built with, and recognised by, industry leaders like Google, Facebook or Amazon and feature hiring partnerships with global innovators such as IBM Watson, Mercedes-Benz and SAP. Udacity is headquartered in Mountain View, California with international offices in Sao Paulo, Berlin, New Delhi and Shanghai. To learn more, please visit udacity.com.