The Santander Finance Fellowship, launched at the Colin Powell School in 2021, aims to dismantle barriers and level the playing field for students from underrepresented backgrounds who aspire to careers in banking and financial services.
The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York’s Santander Finance Fellowship has been extended for an additional three years, through 2028, with a grant of $450,000, a 50 percent increase from the initial three-year grant of $300,000 in 2021.
This Fellowship was developed to dismantle barriers and level the playing field for students from underrepresented backgrounds who are pursuing careers in banking and financial services. The program equips students with the skills, knowledge, and industry connections needed to thrive in this industry; they receive hands-on financial training, professional mentorship, and networking opportunities with top employers.
Since its inception, the program has grown in size and impact. The grant supports a Finance Bootcamp course, open to all students, which equips them with entry-level finance skills. This course has supported more than 200 students each year for the past three years and serves as a pathway into a special fellowship for outstanding students. The first fellowship cohort supported 12 students, the second supported 14, and the third supported 15. With this renewal, the fellowship will now support 20 students annually, significantly expanding its reach. The $450,000 grant will be allocated toward student stipends, instruction, and administrative support, providing fellows with all the necessary resources to excel.
Each fellow benefits from a $5,000 stipend, which allows them to focus on their education and career development. In addition to credit-bearing courses taught by industry experts, students gain access to workshops on professional development and corporate visits, which broaden their career prospects in finance.
Within six months of joining the program, fellows report increased awareness of finance career opportunities, completing essential job application materials, and developing skills vital for entry-level financial analyst roles. Graduates of the program have secured positions at leading firms such as JPMorgan Chase, Accenture, Bank of America, and BNY Mellon, earning competitive salaries and embarking on promising careers in finance.
"The renewal of the Santander Finance Fellowship marks a significant step forward in our mission to provide pathways into high-impact careers for students from underrepresented backgrounds,” said Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean Andrew Rich of the Colin Powell School. “We are deeply grateful for Santander’s continued partnership and investment in our students’ success, and we look forward to building on this model as we expand our efforts to prepare the next generation of leaders in finance."
“The Colin Powell School partnership is one of our flagship programs, demonstrating the transformative impact that focused support can have on underrepresented students pursuing careers in finance,” said Graham Chapman, director of community partnerships at Santander Bank N.A. “We are proud to continue empowering students and helping to build a more inclusive financial sector."
"The Santander Finance Fellowship embodies our purpose to help people and businesses prosper,” said Marco Antonio Achón, global head of corporate banking at Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, and a member of the Colin Powell School’s Board of Visitors. “This program serves as a model for how early interventions and targeted investments in education can create lasting impact. It is important work for Santander, and it is beautifully aligned to Gen. Powell’s imperative to the School that we prepare our students for internships and careers.”
“The renewal of the Santander Finance Fellowship demonstrates Santander Bank’s unwavering commitment to fostering access to finance careers for underrepresented students, ultimately helping to build a more inclusive and equitable financial sector,” added Achon.
About Santander Bank, N.A.
Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country’s leading retail and commercial banks, with $102 billion in assets. With its corporate offices in Boston, the Bank’s more than 5,100 employees and more than 1.8 million customers are principally located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN), recognized as one of the world’s most admired companies by Fortune Magazine in 2024, with approximately 166 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. It is overseen by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander’s intermediate holding company in the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit www.santanderbank.com.
About the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership
Established in April 2013, the Colin Powell School is home to the social science departments at CCNY as well as the core leadership development and public service programs of the College. With almost 4,000 students, and graduating the most CCNY students annually, the Colin Powell School mission is to transform the nation’s most diverse student body into tomorrow’s global leaders. Half of our students are immigrants; more than seventy percent are first-generation college students. Eighty percent are people of color. Most come from lower income backgrounds. The Colin Powell School and City College remain among the most effective engines of economic and social mobility in the United States. The School is led by a faculty dedicated to the highest standards of research and to the university’s democratic and public obligations.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
Syd Steinhardt
212-650-7875
ssteinhardt1@ccny.cuny.edu