Education

Bertelsmann Renews Its Scholarship Program

Beginning in October, Bertelsmann again started giving away a total of 50,000 scholarships to applicants from all over the world. Over the next three years, until 2024, interested parties who wish to further their education in promising Tech & Data fields can apply for part-time online studies in data management and artificial intelligence, software development and engineering, and cybersecurity. The scholarship initiative is accompanied by a global image campaign under the heading “Become a digital expert.” Bertelsmann thereby seeks to highlight the enormous opportunities the digital future holds for companies and society as well as for every single individual. The cross-media campaign includes modern TV spots, ads in print and online media as well as on Times Square in New York, social ads and a dedicated landing page, all centering on Bertelsmann Chairman and CEO Thomas Rabe’s appeal to “Become a digital expert.” In 2022, the campaign has reached some 87 million people around the world, and more than 34,000 applications from 186 countries were received for the first round of the scholarship program.
eAll about “50,000 scholarships” TV-Spot “Become a digital expert”
>87 million
people reached
18,000
medical students
>286,000
digital users

Afya Transforms Daily Medical Practice

In May, Bertelsmann acquired an additional six million shares in the Nasdaq-listed education company Afya, Brazil’s leading provider of medical education and digital solutions for physicians, for a price of US$161 million. As a result, the Bertelsmann Education Group now holds a majority of the voting rights in Afya. The education company supports physicians throughout their professional careers – from the moment they join Afya as students through preparation for their specialist medical training, graduation program, continuing medical education activities and offering digital products to help doctors enhance their healthcare services.

Afya has offices in 19 states as well as the Federal District in Brazil, and runs 30 medical schools. In October, Afya acquired Sociedade Educacional e Cultural Sergipe Del Rey, a private university that operates Centro Universitário Tiradentes in the Brazilian state of Alagoas and Faculdade Tiradentes in Jaboatão dos Guararapes in the state of Pernambuco. The largest acquisition in the company’s history, it expands Afya’s visibility in the Brazilian northeast as well as its number of accredited seats for medical students – by 340 to a total of 3,163. At the end of the year, Afya served 18,000 medical students and has more than 286,000 monthly active users in its digital ecosystem. The app Whitebook, for example, helped physicians in more than 40 million consultations in 2022, and Iclinic was used for 2,150,000 digital prescriptions last year.
eAll about Afya eInterview about the direction of Afya

Alliant Launches New Nursing Degree Program

In 2022, Alliant International University, which in the past specialized in psychology and education, established a new School of Nursing and Health Sciences at the university’s campus in Phoenix in the US state of Arizona. The new Bachelor and Master degree programs were introduced in response to the high demand for education and training in the healthcare sector. The university, which is part of the Bertelsmann Education Group and whose oldest parts have a history dating back more than 110 years, will draw on its experience with holistic educational approaches in other fields to train urgently needed nurses. To this end, the nursing school is collaborating with existing Alliant universities such as the School of Professional Psychology, the School of Education and the School of Management and Leadership. Alliant is based in San Diego, with additional campuses in the state of California, where Alliant is the market leader for training psychologists, and now in Arizona as well. Since 2015, Alliant has increasingly and successfully focused on online programs, and has also expanded its offering to train teachers.
eMore about Alliant International University eMore about the School of Nursing and Health Sciences
~50 percent
of psychologists in California undergo training at Alliant
5 million
nurses use
nurse.com

Nurse.com Launches an App for Nurses

In November, Nurse.com, an online education platform for nurses that is part of the Bertelsmann Education Group via Relias, acquired the social networking app HolliBlu. Leveraging their joint experience, the Nurse.com app was launched, in expectation that it will become the largest online community of its kind. Nurse.com empowers nurses to network with each other, share experiences and knowledge, and build their skills – with the goal of helping each other along their career paths. The app is still in a trial phase and will gradually be expanded to include further services. Nurse.com’s offerings are completed by the new weekly podcast “NurseDot,” which tells the personal stories and experiences of nurses.

Relias, the leading e-learning provider in the US healthcare industry, is also releasing a new app with a variety of innovative learning modalities – including virtual reality and 3D simulations that enable users to experience the many daily challenges that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have to cope with. “Pflegeclever,” meanwhile, hopes to tap into a completely new target group: With this learning platform, Relias seeks to make it easier for outpatient and inpatient care facilities in Germany with fewer than 100 employees to introduce an e-learning solution.

Another highlight: “The Healthcare Technology Report,” a US industry service, included Relias in its prestigious list of “Top 100 Healthcare Technology Companies of 2022.” The annual award recognizes companies in the United States that positively impact patients’ lives through advanced technologies, advance the industry and improve healthcare overall.
eInformation about nurse.com eAll about the new nurse.com app