ZURICH, February 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Today, EF Education First (EF), world leader in international education, celebrates 50 years of opening the world through education. Since its beginning in 1965, EF has helped millions of students travel the world to explore new destinations and cultures, learn a language, or earn an academic degree.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150211/728343 )

Entrepreneur Bertil Hult started EF in a dormitory basement in Lund, Sweden with initial capital of $750 - the sole investment fueling the company's remarkable growth to this day. Since that time, EF has grown into amultinational education company with 40,500 staff and teachers in 500 offices and schools in 53 countries. "To realize the impact of our work is truly humbling and we are looking forward to the next 50 years", said Bertil Hult, EF's founder and owner.

In the run-up to EF's birthday, thousands of EF staff, teachers, and students participated in a worldwide dance which has set the Guinness World Record for "most international dance" in the category: "Most nationalities in an online video album of people performing a choreographed dance".

Over the last 50 years, EF has been on an exciting journey with many milestone events: from the company's early cooperation with Apple to explore computer-aided language learning (1995), to the creation of the Hult Prize, the largest-ever student competition focused on solving some of the world's toughest challenges (2010), and the EF English Proficiency Index (2011), the largest ranking of English skills by country.

Committed to excellence in education, EF has research collaborations with teams from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the University of Cambridge and has launched the world's first free standardized language test, the EFSET. In addition, EF continues to serve as the official language training provider to the Olympic Games, a partnership that dates back to the 1988 Seoul Olympics up to next year's 2016 Rio Olympics.

About EF Education First

Established in 1965 with the mission open the world through education, EF Education First (EF) is the world's leading international education company. EF (http://www.ef.com) has helped millions of students learn a new language and travel abroad. With a network of 500 schools and offices worldwide, EF specializes in language training, educational travel, academic degrees, and cultural exchange programs. EF has published the English Proficiency Index (http://www.ef.com/epi) measuring the English ability of adults in countries across the world.

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EF Education First Celebrates 50th Anniversary