Questions are being raised about how Apple’s costly Developer Academy program in Detroit is financed, as well as the mixed job outcomes after students go through training, according to a WIRED report.
Apple partnered with Michigan State University to launch the Apple Developer Academy in Detroit in 2021. The tuition-free program offers a 10-month course focused on building apps for Apple platforms, providing students with MacBooks, iPhones, mentorship, and monthly stipends intended to cover living costs. Since the academy opened, it has welcomed over 1,700 students, with around 600 of the students completing the 10-month program.
The academy launched as part of the company’s $200 million response to the Black Lives Matter protests and is designed to expand opportunities for minorities in the country’s poorest big city. The academy takes credit for 62 apps and 13 businesses so far.
WIRED investigated the academy and found that nearly $30 million has been spent on the academy since 2021, or roughly $20,000 per student. Apple contributed about $11.6 million, while Michigan taxpayers added more than $8.5 million, which included state funding to provide student stipends. Private philanthropy, including the Gilbert Family Foundation, provided additional funding.
While academy officials say around 71% of graduates over the past two years have found full-time employment, students report varied experiences. While some graduates credited the academy with exposing them to technology careers and building confidence, others said the Apple-centric curriculum and limited stipends left them struggling financially and unprepared for the broader job market.
Former student Lizmary Fernandez, who had entered the academy as a detour from law school, said the program’s cost-of-living stipend was lacking.“A lot of us got on food stamps,” she said. She also says the coursework was insufficient for landing a coding job. “I didn’t have the experience or portfolio,” says the 25-year-old, who is now a flight attendant and preparing to apply to law school. “Coding is not something I got back to.”
Another student told the publication the that recent stipend reductions forced students to juggle multiple side jobs.
Another former student says the program does expose people of color to new career possibilities. “It changed my life,” says Min Thu Khine, who’s now mentoring coding students and working at an Apple Store Genius Bar. “My dream is to be a software engineer at Apple.”
