AWS and Udacity Are Giving Away Free AI Education to 100,000 People in 2026 – Here’s How to Get In
Let me be blunt: most “free AI courses” online are either too shallow to matter or so watered-down they won’t help you get a job. So when I spotted the AWS AI & ML Scholars Program 2026, I actually spent time digging into what it covers, who qualifies, and whether it’s worth your time.
The short answer: yes, it is. Especially if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines of the AI wave because you thought you needed a computer science degree, a big budget, or a tech background to participate. You don’t.
Written by Kaloian Parchev
Last Updated: 01 April 2026
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Here’s everything you need to know.
What Is the AWS AI & ML Scholars Program?
Amazon Web Services, in partnership with Udacity, launched a global scholarship initiative designed to bring foundational AI and machine learning education to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it. The goal for 2026: fund up to 100,000 learners worldwide.
The program is powered by AWS Skill Builder — Amazon’s own learning platform — and runs in two distinct phases. The first phase is open to everyone who applies. The second phase is a competitive selection for the top performers.
Applications opened on March 24, 2026, and remain open through June 24, 2026 — or until all seats are filled, whichever comes first. If you’re reading this close to the deadline, don’t wait.
Eligibility requirements are refreshingly minimal:
- You must be 18 years or older
- No prior experience in AI, machine learning, or coding is required
- The program is open globally
That’s it. No GPA requirements, no employer sponsorships, no hoops.
Phase 1: The Challenge Phase (March 24 – June 24, 2026)
Everyone who applies is automatically enrolled in the Challenge Phase. This is where you prove you’re serious.
You’ll work through the AWS AI Practitioner Learning Plan — a self-paced curriculum covering:
- Large language models (LLMs) and how they work
- Core AI and machine learning concepts
- Generative AI fundamentals
- Natural language processing and computer vision basics
- AWS AI services including Amazon PartyRock and Amazon Bedrock
The coursework runs approximately 10 to 15 hours total. That’s one hour per day for two weeks, or a concentrated weekend push. It’s designed to fit around a job, school, or a busy family schedule.
Completing Phase 1 earns you:
- A Udacity certificate of completion
- A three-month subscription to AWS Skill Builder — a paid platform that offers expert-led courses, hands-on labs, certification exam prep, and interactive learning environments
Even if you don’t advance to Phase 2, you leave with something tangible. The AWS Skill Builder subscription alone has real value for anyone preparing for cloud or AI certifications.
Phase 2: The Udacity Nanodegree (August 4 – November 4, 2026)
This is where the program shifts from accessible to genuinely impressive.
The top 4,500 performers from Phase 1 — selected through a short assessment in early July, with final selections announced on July 27, 2026 — advance to a fully funded Udacity Nanodegree. AWS covers the entire cost. These programs typically cost thousands of dollars.
Phase 2 runs for three months and offers three specialized learning tracks:
Track 1: AI Programmer
Built for people who want a technical foundation to work in AI and ML. You’ll master advanced Python for data analysis and visualization, train machine learning models using PyTorch, and explore neural network architectures including transformers. This track produces hands-on portfolio projects you can show to employers.
Track 2: Agentic AI Business Professional
Designed for people in business, operations, or non-technical roles who want to harness AI for smarter decisions — without writing code. This is the no-code track, focused on applying generative AI tools to real business challenges using AWS services.
Track 3: Agent Developer
The most forward-looking track of the three. This focuses specifically on building AI agents — autonomous systems that can take actions, make decisions, and operate with minimal human intervention. Agentic AI is where the field is heading right now, and getting structured training in it in 2026 is a real advantage.
All three tracks are project-based, meaning you graduate with a portfolio of work built on live AWS infrastructure. A Udacity Nanodegree is not a participation trophy. It’s a credential designed to meet employer expectations in AI and cloud roles.
Why This Is Worth Your Attention
I’ve seen a lot of “free training” announcements over the years. Most of them are marketing exercises — short awareness modules dressed up as education. This one is different in a few specific ways.
First, the infrastructure is real. AWS Skill Builder is what Amazon uses to train its own cloud professionals. The content in Phase 1 is the same material used to prepare people for the AWS Certified AI Practitioner certification. That’s not a beginner-participation badge — it’s a recognized credential in the job market.
Second, the Nanodegree is genuinely valuable. Udacity built its reputation on industry-aligned, project-based programs developed with real employers. The fully funded Nanodegree in Phase 2 would cost a learner $1,000–$2,000+ if purchased directly. AWS is covering that.
Third, the timing matters. We are in the middle of the largest labor market shift driven by AI in history. Companies are not waiting for their existing employees to upskill — they’re hiring people who already have these skills. Getting an AWS-certified, Udacity-validated AI credential in 2026 is not a nice-to-have. For certain career paths, it’s becoming a table stake.
Fourth, there’s no downside to applying. The Challenge Phase costs you nothing except 10–15 hours of your time. If you complete it, you get a certificate and three months of AWS Skill Builder access. If you’re in the top 4,500, you get a fully funded Nanodegree. The worst-case scenario is you learn something useful for free.
Who Should Apply?
Honestly, the program is designed broadly, and that’s a feature, not a bug. But here’s how I’d think about it in terms of who gets the most out of it:
Career changers who’ve been eyeing tech but assumed the on-ramp was too expensive or too technical. Phase 1 has no prerequisites. If you can commit 10 hours, you can complete it.
Recent graduates in non-technical fields who want to add a marketable AI credential to their profile before entering the job market. This is a faster, cheaper path than a postgraduate program.
Business professionals in marketing, finance, operations, or HR who are watching their industries get disrupted by AI and want to understand it on a practical level — not just from thought leadership articles. The Agentic AI Business Professional track was made for this group.
Developers and technical people who haven’t yet formalized their AI knowledge on AWS. Phase 2’s AI Programmer and Agent Developer tracks provide structure and portfolio projects that self-learning rarely delivers.
Anyone outside the major tech hubs who has faced geographic or financial barriers to quality tech education. The program is fully online and globally accessible. AWS specifically designed it for learners who’ve had limited access to this kind of training.
How to Apply
The application is through Udacity, not directly through AWS. When you apply, you’re automatically enrolled in the Challenge Phase — there’s no separate enrollment step.
Go to: aws.amazon.com/about-aws/our-impact/scholars or search for “AWS AI ML Scholars 2026” and you’ll find the Udacity application page.
The key timeline to keep in mind:
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Applications open | March 24, 2026 |
| Applications close | June 24, 2026 |
| Challenge Phase ends | June 24, 2026 |
| Phase 2 assessment | Early July 2026 |
| Nanodegree selections announced | July 27, 2026 |
| Nanodegree begins | August 4, 2026 |
| Nanodegree ends | November 4, 2026 |
The June 24 deadline is firm. And remember — the program closes early if all 100,000 seats fill up before then.
A Note on Realistic Expectations
Getting into Phase 2 is competitive. Only 4,500 of 100,000 participants advance — that’s roughly a 4.5% selection rate. If Phase 2 is your goal, you can’t treat Phase 1 as a checkbox exercise. You’ll need to engage seriously with the coursework and perform well on the assessment.
That said, Phase 1 alone is worth completing even if you have no ambitions for the Nanodegree. The AWS AI Practitioner Learning Plan is solid foundational content, and the three-month AWS Skill Builder subscription gives you access to certification prep materials that normally cost money. If you’re already considering any AWS certification — cloud practitioner, solutions architect, or the AI practitioner credential — this is a free head start.
Treat Phase 2 as the stretch goal. Treat Phase 1 as the minimum viable commitment.
The Bigger Picture
Amazon isn’t running this program out of pure charity — they’re building the talent ecosystem that will use their cloud services for the next decade. That’s fine. Corporate motives and learner interests can align, and in this case they do.
What matters from where you sit is this: AWS and Udacity have built a structured, credentialed, project-based AI learning path and are offering it free to 100,000 people globally. The content is real. The credential is recognized. The deadline is June 24, 2026.
If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to take AI seriously as a skill set — this is a reasonable moment to stop waiting.
Quick Summary
- Program: AWS AI & ML Scholars 2026, in partnership with Udacity
- Who can apply: Anyone 18+, globally, no prior experience required
- Phase 1: Free AI Practitioner training (10–15 hours), open to all 100,000 applicants
- Phase 1 rewards: Udacity certificate + 3 months free AWS Skill Builder access
- Phase 2: Fully funded Udacity Nanodegree for top 4,500 performers
- Phase 2 tracks: AI Programmer, Agentic AI Business Professional, Agent Developer
- Deadline: June 24, 2026 (or when seats fill)
- Apply at: aws.amazon.com/about-aws/our-impact/scholars
If you apply or have already started, let me know in the comments what track you’re aiming for.
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