Eilif Serck-Hanssen

Eilif Serck-Hanssen serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Laureate Education, Inc., where he leads the largest private higher education provider in Mexico and Peru. Under his leadership, Laureate serves more than 500,000 students across over 50 campuses and online programs, supported by more than 30,000 faculty and staff dedicated to expanding access to quality higher education throughout Latin America.

Since becoming CEO in January 2018, Eilif has transformed Laureate into a focused, high-performing organization dedicated to student success and educational innovation. His leadership emphasizes measurable student outcomes, with Laureate maintaining market-leading graduation rates and employability results while specifically targeting underserved populations who have historically faced barriers to quality higher education. This commitment to access and equity has positioned Laureate as a critical bridge to economic mobility for hundreds of thousands of students across the region.

Eilif has championed a comprehensive digital transformation that has fundamentally reshaped how Laureate delivers education. Online instruction now accounts for nearly 50 percent of the total teaching mix, enabling a more scalable, accessible, and affordable education model that meets students where they are. This evolution has not come at the expense of quality—rather, it has enhanced Laureate's ability to serve diverse learning needs while maintaining rigorous academic standards and strong student engagement.

As both CEO and board member, Eilif brings a distinctive perspective on educational leadership, combining operational excellence with strategic governance. He has fostered a performance-driven culture that emphasizes accountability, student-centricity, academic quality, and ethical conduct. Employee engagement at Laureate consistently exceeds industry benchmarks, reflecting an organization aligned around a shared mission of transforming lives through education.

Before joining Laureate in 2008, Eilif held senior executive roles across multiple industries, including leadership positions at XOJET, Eos Airlines, US Airways, Northwest Airlines, and PepsiCo. He began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in London, bringing financial discipline and strategic thinking to his approach to educational leadership.

Eilif holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a B.A. in Management Science from the University of Kent, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. He is also an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA), bringing analytical rigor to educational strategy and operations.

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