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AWS Academy
What it is
AWS Academy is a free, instructor-led cloud computing curriculum program for eligible higher education institutions. Its courses cover foundational cloud concepts, architecture, development, operations, data analytics, AI/ML, and security, including cybersecurity principles and cloud services. Most courses align with AWS Certifications and help students prepare for certification exams. Educators can use Learner Lab to create classes, invite students, assign projects, review student workspaces and analytics, and access more than 100 AWS services. They choose which content to deliver and how long to spend on it; recommended time allocations are optional. Educators can request a 100% discount voucher for certification exams and receive complimentary AWS Skill Builder access for 12 months. Students can also receive 12 months of Skill Builder access, and eligible learners may access the Emerging Talent Community after completing a course. Membership begins at the institution level. After acceptance, the institution's Program Administrator nominates educators and proposes a class delivery plan.
For and against
For
- Free to join for eligible institutions
- Learner Lab includes access to over 100 AWS services
- Educators choose content and time allocation
- Students can receive 12 months of Skill Builder access
Against
- Membership is limited to eligible higher education institutions
- Institution acceptance and an administrator-led delivery plan are required
The verdict
AWS Academy offers an institution-based cloud curriculum with labs, flexible teaching choices, and certification preparation. Eligibility and institutional enrollment are central to access.
Who it suits
AWS Academy is for higher education institutions offering accredited degrees, diplomas, certificates, or continuing education. It suits educators who want flexible course delivery and students preparing for AWS certifications.
Plans and prices
AWS Academy
Eligible accredited higher-education institutions · educator-nominated access · institution-level membership
Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
On the record
- Architecting course length
- Cloud Architecting contains approximately 40 hours of lectures, hands-on labs, and project work.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Associate curriculum
- Associate courses cover Cloud Architecting, Cloud Developing, Cloud Operations, Data Engineering, and Machine Learning for Natural Language Processing.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Audience
- Membership is open to higher education institutions offering accredited degrees, diplomas, certificates, or continuing education programs.aws.amazon.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Certification alignment
- Most Academy courses align with AWS Certifications, but AWS recommends supplementary study before exams.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Certification preparation
- Most AWS Academy courses align with AWS Certifications and help prepare students for certification exams.aws.amazon.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Company facts
- LinkedIn lists Amazon Web Services as a public IT-services company headquartered in Seattle, with 10,001-plus employees and a 2006 founding year.linkedin.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Curriculum
- Courses cover foundational cloud concepts, architecture, development, operations, data analytics, and AI/ML.aws.amazon.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Curriculum flexibility
- Educators choose which course content to deliver and how long to spend on it; recommended time allocations are not required.aws.amazon.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Data handling
- AWS handles training data under its privacy notice and shares it with an institution coordinator when that coordinator arranged participation.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Delivery flexibility
- Educators may choose which content to deliver and how much time to spend on each topic; recommended allocations are optional.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Educator benefit
- Approved educators receive course access, enablement sessions, 100% certification-exam discounts, and 12 months of AWS Skill Builder subscription access.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Educator benefits
- Educators can request a 100% discount voucher for AWS Certification exams and receive complimentary AWS Skill Builder subscription access for 12 months.aws.amazon.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Educator cost
- Educators can join without paying and may request a 100% AWS Certification exam discount voucher.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Eligibility
- Membership is open to institutions offering accredited degrees, diplomas, certificates, or continuing-education programs.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Foundational curriculum
- Foundational offerings include Cloud Foundations, Generative AI Foundations, Machine Learning Foundations, Data Center Technician, Engineering Operations Technician, and Cloud Security Foundations.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Hands-on labs
- The Learner Lab lets educators create classes, invite students, assign projects, view student workspaces and analytics, and access over 100 AWS services.aws.amazon.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Institution application
- Applications must be submitted by an authorized institutional program administrator using an institutional email address.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Lab projects
- Project options include data-pipeline, web-application, cloud-security, and microservices CI/CD builders.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
