Fundação Getulio Vargas — FGV EAESP

The Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundação Getulio Vargas — FGV EAESP — was founded in 1954 in São Paulo, Brazil, as a collaboration between the Fundação Getulio Vargas and the Michigan State University, with a founding mandate to professionalise management education in a rapidly industrialising country. It is a graduate and postgraduate business school affiliated with FGV, one of Brazil's most respected higher-education and research foundations, with a presence across multiple cities. The school's intellectual identity has always sat at the intersection of rigorous academic research and the practical demands of doing business in Brazil and Latin America — a region defined by regulatory complexity, demographic dynamism, and structural volatility that few Northern Hemisphere curricula adequately address.

Accreditations and Rankings

Accreditations

• AACSB accredited
• EQUIS accredited
• AMBA accredited
• Triple Crown — one of a small number of Latin American schools to hold all three

Rankings

• Financial Times Executive Education Open Programs: ranked among Latin America's leading providers (2023)
• Financial Times Masters in Management: FGV EAESP ranked in the global top 100 (2023)
• Consistently ranked as Brazil's #1 business school for management and administration in national assessments by CAPES and the Ministry of Education

Executive Education at a Glance

FGV EAESP's executive education division — GVpec — is one of the most active in Latin America, offering more than 100 open-enrollment programs annually alongside a substantial custom program portfolio tailored to individual organisations. Topic strengths reflect the school's research priorities: corporate governance, financial management, digital transformation, marketing in high-growth markets, sustainability and ESG, and leadership in complex environments. Programs run across formats — intensive in-person modules at the São Paulo campus, online and hybrid options, and international modules delivered through partner schools in Europe and North America. Duration ranges from two-day short courses to year-long certificate programs, with open program fees typically falling between BRL 3,000 and BRL 30,000 depending on length and format. Flagship offerings include the GV CEO program, the Executive MBA modalities tailored to different career stages, and a suite of sustainability-focused certificates that have grown significantly in enrolment since 2021. Partial scholarships are available through FGV's social inclusion and diversity initiatives, particularly for participants from public-sector organisations or underrepresented groups.

Campus and Facilities

The FGV EAESP campus occupies a striking modernist building designed by the architect Giancarlo Palanti in the Bela Vista neighbourhood of São Paulo, close to the city's financial centre and the Paulista Avenue corridor — Brazil's equivalent of Wall Street compressed into a few kilometres. The building has been updated over the decades with modern case-study rooms, co-working areas, and digital infrastructure, while retaining an architectural character that reflects the school's mid-century founding ambition. Executive participants benefit from direct proximity to São Paulo's dense ecosystem of multinationals, domestic conglomerates, fintechs, and government offices — companies including Itaú Unibanco, Embraer, AmBev, and XP Investimentos are headquartered or heavily present within a short radius. That urban density is not incidental: faculty regularly bring practitioners into the classroom, and many case studies are built around live decisions facing São Paulo-based organisations.

Faculty and Research

FGV EAESP's faculty numbers approximately 150 full-time professors, with a significant proportion holding doctorates from institutions in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany — a deliberate internationalisation policy that began in the 1950s and has continued since. Research strengths particularly relevant to executive participants include public administration and governance, financial markets and banking, sustainability and business ethics, organisational behaviour, and digital innovation. The school houses several influential research centres, including the Centro de Estudos em Sustentabilidade (GVces), which is among the most cited sustainability research units in Latin America and has directly influenced Brazil's ESG regulatory agenda. Faculty members are expected to engage with practice: consulting relationships, board roles, and government advisory positions are common, and this applied orientation feeds directly into the executive classroom.

Student Body, Alumni, and Career Outcomes

FGV EAESP's alumni network exceeds 60,000 graduates and spans the full spectrum of Brazil's private and public sectors, with particularly strong representation in financial services, consumer goods, agribusiness, infrastructure, and government. International participants attend primarily through custom programs and partnerships, though open programs increasingly attract executives from Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Portugal seeking exposure to the Brazilian market specifically. Notable alumni include senior figures at Itaú, Bradesco, Natura, Embraer, and across Brazil's federal and state governments, giving the network a reach that is simultaneously commercially and politically significant in the Latin American context. For executives pursuing roles in Brazil or seeking to understand the operational and regulatory environment of the region's largest economy, the FGV EAESP alumni connection offers access that few other institutions can replicate.