AWS Resources for Learning AI
Free courses, student benefits, and cloud credits from Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services runs one of the largest free AI training catalogs available, plus a benefits program aimed specifically at college students. None of it is Hub-run, and we get nothing from listing it — it's here because it's free, it's substantial, and Rhode Islanders should know it exists.
Free AI courses on AWS Skill Builder
AWS Skill Builder is Amazon's learning platform, with free courses covering generative AI, machine learning, prompt engineering, and cloud fundamentals, alongside certification exam prep and hands-on practice.
This program grew out of Amazon's "AI Ready" commitment to provide free AI skills training to two million people worldwide.
Browse AWS Skill Builder · Read Amazon's announcement of the free AI courses
Student Rewards on AWS Builder Center
If you are a college student, start here. Announced in August 2026, Student Rewards gives verified higher-education students a stack of benefits that would otherwise cost several hundred dollars:
- 12 months of premium AWS Skill Builder — 900+ courses, hands-on labs, certification prep, and game-based learning. You unlock it just by verifying enrollment and completing your profile.
- AWS Credits — $10 after earning 7 badges on Builder Center, another $20 at 14 badges.
- An AWS Foundational Certification exam voucher
Badges come from participating in the community: publishing articles, commenting, staying active. Verification runs through SheerID and usually takes minutes. You must be 18 or older and enrolled at an accredited institution.
AWS also runs Student Builder Groups — student-led campus communities in more than 60 countries. You can find one at your school or start one.
Read the full announcement and get started
AWS Builder Center — open to everyone
You don't have to be a student. Builder Center is a free community for developers at any level, with hands-on workshops in real AWS environments (no credit card required), articles you can read or publish, a public profile for your work, and topic- and region-based Spaces for connecting with other builders.
For nonprofits and education organizations: the AWS Education Equity Initiative
This one is not for individual learners — it's for organizations building digital learning tools. AWS has committed $100 million in technology to support edtechs, startups, nonprofits, governments, and corporate social responsibility teams creating learning solutions for underserved students, from kindergarten through career.
Eligible organizations can apply for up to $10,000 in AWS social impact credits, plus technical guidance from AWS Solutions Architects and opportunities to have their work featured. AWS assesses applications on who the solution serves, its quality, how many learners it reaches, and the organization's technical capacity.
As an example of what it funds, Code.org used Amazon Bedrock to build an AI teaching assistant that cut the time teachers spend assessing student coding projects by up to 50 percent.
If you run a Rhode Island nonprofit working on learning tools, this is worth a look.