Apple Discontinues 'iOS Developer University Program' for Students

Apple has discontinued the iOS Developer University Program as of May 15, according to a notice on its website and an email sent to program members.

apple developer app feature
The program allowed university professors and other eligible instructors to create a development team with up to 200 students, who could create and test apps without needing to pay the usual $99 annual fee for Apple Developer Program membership.

Apple says accredited educational institutions can still enroll in the Apple Developer Program at no cost by submitting a fee waiver request.

Thanks, Nicolás Álvarez!

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
ive and altman

Jony Ive's OpenAI Device Barred From Using 'io' Name

Friday December 5, 2025 6:22 am PST by
A U.S. appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order that prevents OpenAI and Jony Ive's new hardware venture from using the name "io" for products similar to those planned by AI audio startup iyO, Bloomberg Law reports. iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year after the latter announced its partnership with Ive's new firm, arguing that OpenAI's planned "io" branding was too close to its...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Photos App Icon Liquid Glass

John Gruber Shares Scathing Commentary About Apple's Departing Software Design Chief

Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs. On his blog Daring Fireball,...
Apple John Ternus 2019

Will John Ternus Really Be Apple's Next CEO?

Friday December 5, 2025 9:01 am PST by
There is uncertainty about Apple's head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, The Information reports. Some former Apple executives apparently hope that a new "dark-horse" candidate will emerge. Ternus is considered to be the most likely candidate to succeed Cook as CEO. The report notes that he is more likely to become CEO than software head chief Craig Federighi, ...
ios 18 to ios 26 upgrade

Apple Pushes iPhone Users Still on iOS 18 to Upgrade to iOS 26

Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent. Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...

Top Rated Comments

kitkat99333 Avatar
21 months ago

Poor students, always getting kicked about these days...
No real difference if you read the full thing
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Yujenisis Avatar
21 months ago

there is always Android university. and no 30 percent fee to sell your app.
There is no such thing as “Android University” except for its use as a title for a Google Developer blog post from 2008 ('https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22android%20university%22').

Google only offers two types of developer accounts personal or organization/business ('https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/13634885?hl=en'). There are no special accounts for schools or universities.

Literally everything you said is not true or even real.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unregistered 4U Avatar
21 months ago

there is always Android university. and no 30 percent fee to sell your app.
Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea to “sell” an Android app anyway. Developers have found it’s much more viable to just load the app down with ads, far more likelihood to see a return.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unregistered 4U Avatar
21 months ago

If it's still free to universities has this really shifted much?
I think it just switches who’s doing the writing. Initially it was on a professor and it could be multiple professors in one school, I’d imagine. Now, instead of keeping track of all that, they’re moving it to the institution level. Could be that the program has gotten enough notoriety that keeping track of it at a per professor level is no longer efficient.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
laptech Avatar
21 months ago
It would not surprise me if the program has been cancelled as a result of a lack of take up by universities because of Apple probably setting conditions in the program that anything that is made, coded, designed, thought of, any ideas that came from the professors and the students become the property of Apple because it was done on their premises under their program and that Apple can take such and use them as they see fit and universities were not happy with this.

A huge number of employers have these type of conditions set into company handbooks/contracts basically saying any idea/design that is done on company time becomes the automatic property of the company. Same applies if any company resources were used, computers, pends, paper, calculators, stuff like that.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
genovelle Avatar
21 months ago

They should just do away with the 99$ fee. Let people test betas as long as crash reports are enabled.
You do realize $99 a year is crazy cheap?! Developer Programs for apps were 10k to 50k Per year when Apple started this. The split was also 70% to the platforms. And you covered your Own Promotion.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)