Amazon Technical Academy is a virtual, full-time, tuition-free training program designed to prepare Amazonians with the skills needed to become Amazon Software Development Engineers (SDE) in as little as nine months.

Amazon Technical Academy accepts applications from regular full-time (class F) or regular reduced-time (class R) Amazon employees in good performance standing who have at least 12 consecutive months of blue badge tenure by the time classes start. Applicants must have a GED or high school diploma. All applicants must have valid unrestricted work authorization throughout the entire 9-month training. More information on our eligibility requirements can be found on our Employee Portal.

Amazon Technical Academy equips participants with the skills needed to become an entry-level Software Development Engineer (SDE) at Amazon. Near the end of the nine months of class, ATA participants are assessed for their readiness to become a full-time entry-level SDE. Participants who excel in the assessment may join Amazon development teams as either an SDE-I or through a paid on-the-job training program with an Amazon technical team to apply the skills they’ve developed during instructor-led training.

SDEs are found throughout most organizations within Amazon. This means you could work anywhere from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Alexa to the technology teams that support the World Wide Operations Network.

Amazon Technical Academy is designed to train non-technical Amazon employees with the skills needed to become SDEs, but successful ATA graduates have also included support techs and other technical employees. Depending on your role, you may have already learned some of the things ATA would teach. Consider the extent to which your job has already exposed you to material taught by ATA, and whether your career goals allow taking time away from your current role to attend. You may be able to work with your manager to ensure you get the right experiences to eventually transition to a SDE-I role without entering ATA.

Visit the Employee Portal section of this site for all information about Amazon Technical Academy, including program details, our admissions process, and more. You do not need to be on Amazon’s network to access the Employee Portal, but you will be asked to sign in using Midway Authentication or your A-to-Z credentials.

Any employee who meets our basic eligibility requirements is welcome to apply to Amazon Technical Academy, even if you’ve never written a line of code. Applicants who move forward in our process will, however, be asked to demonstrate a foundational knowledge of Java during the application process, and will be offered our free, self-service Prerequisite Course to gain this knowledge.

ATA is committed to selecting participants from diverse backgrounds and experiences. We assess applicants’ logical reasoning ability via a series of assessments, and foundational Java skills via the Technical Assessment. We also consider employment history, performance standing, and general program eligibility to make admissions decisions. We do not consider formal academic or technical qualifications. We encourage employees from all educational backgrounds and job levels to apply for ATA even if you have no formal technical training.

If you are not admitted to Amazon Technical Academy’s internal program, you are welcome to reapply in a future admissions cycle. Employees can also explore other Amazon upskilling programs here.

Note that ATA isn’t affiliated with other upskilling programs at Amazon and cannot provide additional information. If you have questions about other upskilling opportunities, please contact those programs directly.

Amazon Technical Academy is an internal upskilling program for current, regular full-time (class F) or regular reduced-time (class R) employees of any job level who meet our basic eligibility requirements, complete our admissions process, and are admitted to the program. ATA’s admissions process is selective, and admission to ATA is not guaranteed to all applicants who are eligible to apply. Employees selected for the Amazon Technical Academy program receive free tuition and are paid an hourly wage while they learn. Find out more about eligibility requirements for current Amazon employees.

Amazon Technical Academy has also partnered with authorized training providers to deliver Amazon Technical Academy’s curriculum to participants outside of Amazon. If you are an Amazon employee and are not admitted into the internal Amazon Technical Academy program, or if you do not meet the basic eligibility requirements to apply, you have the option of applying directly for the partner programs: Kenzie Academy, Bloom Institute of Technology (formerly Lambda School), and Nashville Software School.

• Authorized training providers maintain their own eligibility requirements and admissions processes. They may accept Amazon employees who are not admitted into the internal Amazon Technical Academy program.
• Participants pay tuition and are not compensated by Amazon for participating in the training program.
• Partners maintain their own class delivery platforms.

External Amazon Technical Academy graduates can apply for SDE-I roles with Amazon. Those who apply for full-time entry-level SDE roles will undergo the same hiring and evaluation process as graduates from four-year computer science Bachelor’s degree programs. Participants in these provider programs are not guaranteed an interview or job at Amazon.

We seek to work with educational institutions and training organizations nationwide that have proven their ability to reach underrepresented populations. Amazon Technical Academy prioritizes training providers who demonstrate:

• proven learning outcomes
• proven success in training and placing students from underrepresented populations
• strong support for diverse participants
• financial value to students
• high employability
• quality instructional delivery
• highly qualified instructors
• high student satisfaction
• ability to scale to meet Amazon’s hiring demand
• ability to meet Amazon’s quality bar on an ongoing basis

Amazon provides authorized training providers with access to the full Amazon Technical Academy curriculum and works with them to develop and operate their program. Amazon will also ensure that graduates of authorized ATA programs meet the eligibility requirements to apply for Amazon Software Development Engineer L4 (SDE-I) roles.

Amazon expects training partner organizations to produce and launch a backend Java development program based on the curriculum developed for Amazon Technical Academy. The core of this curriculum is the Amazon-defined knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to succeed as an Amazon Software Development Engineer (SDE).