WWDCScholars

What is a WWDC Scholarship?

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is Apple’s annual developer conference, now hosted entirely online. It brings together developers from around the world to explore the latest innovations across Apple platforms through technical sessions, hands-on labs with Apple engineers, and exclusive content for the developer community.

WWDC kicks off with a special in-person event at Apple Park, where a select group of developers and students are invited for a unique on-site experience, including the keynote and other curated activities.

As part of the conference, Apple hosts the Swift Student Challenge – an initiative that celebrates young and emerging developers. Up to 350 winners are chosen each year based on the creativity, technical skill, and impact of their interactive app playground submissions. From that group, 50 Distinguished Winners are selected for their exceptional work and are invited to attend the special event at Apple Park.

Past participants have built apps that tackle real-world challenges – everything from connecting peers to mental health resources to supporting sustainability initiatives on campus. The challenge is a great opportunity to develop thoughtful, community-driven solutions through code.

Winners receive a year of free membership in the Apple Developer Program, a complimentary voucher for the App Development with Swift certification exam, a personalized certificate from Apple, and a pair of AirPods Max.

Whether you’re just getting started or already deep into your coding journey, now is the time to dream, sketch ideas, gather your tools, and build something meaningful.

More information can be found on Apple's Swift Student Challenge site.

How can I apply?

Don't miss any announcements by following us on Twitter (@WWDCScholars).

The application for the Swift Student Challenge consists of a combination of a Swift Playground to showcase your ingenuity and written responses to a few questions. You can find out more on the Apple Website.

How do I join WWDCScholars?

If you are a WWDC Scholarship / Swift Student Challenge winner, you can sign up to create a profile on our website. This is a great way to connect with fellow Scholars and help you to get the most out of the conference.

Typically it takes us some time to update the signup form each year so it might not be available immediately after results are out. Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@WWDCScholars) to stay up to date..

Is there anything I can help with?

We are always on the lookout for creative individuals and like-minded developers from all around the world to help us build our platform for WWDC scholarship winners. Our current projects include a native iOS app written in Swift as well as two Vue.js web applications for signup and this website. Everything we develop is openly available on GitHub. If you are interested in contributing to any of our projects, check out the open issues of the respective repository, or create a new one to suggest an improvement or request a feature.

Is this an official Apple page?

This isn’t an official Apple page – we’re a group of past WWDC Scholarship recipients who wanted to create a space where Swift Student Challenge winners can showcase their work and connect with others in the community. Our goal is to celebrate the creativity and talent behind these projects and offer support from people who’ve been through the experience. For official details and updates, we recommend visiting Apple’s website directly.