FGV surpasses the 7 million students mark in free online courses

The first Brazilian institution to be a member of the OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC), a consortium of educational institutions from different countries that offers free content and online teaching materials, Fundação Getulio Vargas is celebrating the success of its free distance learning courses. Since its launch in July 2008, more than 7.6 million students have signed up for courses and more than 4.2 million certificates of completion have been issued.With about 50 courses available in different areas of knowledge such as personal finance, sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship, with 5 courses offered in Spanish, this free online program reaches students not only in Brazil but also in Portugal, Angola, Japan, Mozambique, the United States, and over 100 other countries.With the growth of distance education in Brazil, online courses have currently become an excellent alternative for those who want to improve their professional skills without leaving home. According to Nickolas Lago, Advertising student who completed the free courses in 'Communication Management' and 'Strategic Marketing', the teaching method is very attractive, especially because of its time flexibility, duration and location. Since I work and study, this was a great opportunity to complement my college studies and keep my curriculum updated, he said. Nickolas said he learned about the course from his father, who had already attended it and liked it very much. Through the course content, I could understand more about the area in which I work and complement my college studies, he added.Luciana Ramos, a communication analyst, also decided to get updated by taking the free courses offered by FGV. The company I work for invests heavily in Social Responsibility. Although it is not my direct role, I wanted to understand the subject better and, therefore, took the online course 'Sustainability applied to business'. It was great because I didn't have time to attend in-presence classes and it was possible to access the course while in traffic, coming home from work, she said. Luciana also emphasized the value of these courses: The quality of the content is just as good as that of any in-presence course.Winner of the People's Choice Awards for two consecutive years? awards for the best initiatives within the group ? in the categories of most innovative and cutting-edge programs, FGV Online was also elected Top of Mind for nine consecutive times in the e-Learning category (HR Top of Mind Estadão award).To view other courses offered by the institution, please click here.