Etapa is one of Brazil's most important educational groups. It has offered quality education—from Early Childhood to Higher Education—for over 50 years. The Pre-Admission Exam Course was founded in 1970 as a result of the work of professionals with experience in teaching and preparing courses for admission exams. Because of its innovative spirit and its ability to understand the changes in selection processes, it became the most significant center for preparing for exams that require strong education in all subjects.

Colégio Etapa was founded in 1982. The project, planned carefully by the educators, is a regular teaching school of the highest quality. Shortly after it opened, the School began to attract attention because of the awards it won. At first, these awards were medals received from the Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo. Then, they went national. From 1986 onwards, the students at Colégio Etapa started to represent the country in international competitions.

 Etapa's successful experience began to spread to other schools in the 1990s through the creation of the Etapa Didactic System, which offers programming and didactic materials to schools in the State of São Paulo and other Brazilian States. Its strong and modern education expands, and its dynamic teaching methods enrich the Brazilian educational system as a whole.

The Group finally reaches Higher Education in 2006 after gaining authorization from the Ministry of Education (MEC) to open Faculdade do Grupo Etapa - ESEG. The College was born with the mission of making students develop both professional and scientific excellence and solid personal training. Students are encouraged to discover and explore their full potential and to become professionals prepared for the job market and facing challenges.

At first, the College offered courses in Production Engineering, Administration, and Information Systems. Then, it grew based on its commitment to quality teaching, ethics, and transparency. One year after its foundation, its Academic Integrity Statement was implemented based on four pillars: Honesty, Trust, Respect, and Responsibility. This document governs all academic relationships and was signed by all ESEG students upon admission.

The ESEG Management Award was created in 2010 in partnership with the Paula Souza Center; it is a scientific contest aimed at students who studied in technical high schools. Its goal is to promote the most modern practices in project management and preparation. Enrolled students are granted the opportunity to present creative solutions for improving processes and products. The initiative reached its 10th edition in 2019, further encouraging research and technological development.

In 2014, the Production Engineering major achieved the highest score in the Brazilian Students' Performance Exam of the Ministry of Education (Enade/MEC). This was a recognition of Faculdade do Grupo Etapa - ESEG's excellent teaching system. The Administration major achieved this feat in 2015. Then, in 2016, ESEG is reaccredited with the Ministry of Education by means of Regulation No. 1315, dated November 17, 2016.

The highlight of the year 2017 is the authorization granted by the Ministry of Education to the Computer Engineering major, which has an emphasis on hardware and application development, as well as interfaces with Information Systems. It also includes disciplines that address equipment and computer systems in their construction stage.

Because it understands that innovative education involves providing contact with state-of-the-art technological resources, ESEG decided to inaugurate, in that same year, its Technological Innovation Laboratory (LITE), with a complete structure for creating and developing projects.

The agreement with the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria is executed at around the same time and is a milestone for ESEG's internationalization process. The Exchange Program Center was created to seek partnerships and opportunities in Brazil and abroad and advise students in selection processes, document analysis, and discipline transfer credits.

In 2018, ESEG starts research in Artificial Intelligence. In addition to encouraging further debate on the subject, the College invested in building a dedicated laboratory, which is located on the Paraíso campus. The Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (LIA) has an infrastructure dedicated to developing projects related to this type of technology. The new ESEG campus, where its head office is located, is at Rua Vergueiro, 1549, between the Orthodox Cathedral and the Paraíso subway station.

In 2019, ESEG was granted authorization for the Law major. The major received the highest score (5) from the Ministry of Education and offers, in addition to traditional content, approaches to entrepreneurship, process management, conciliation and mediation techniques, among other matters relevant to the exercise of legal activities in today's world. In that same year, the Economics major was authorized. The major trains students on how to combine solid theoretical and practical knowledge, thus helping them enter the most diverse segments of the job market.