Summary
Three WordPress education leaders — Destiny Kanno (WordPress education program manager sponsored by Automattic), Anand Upadhyay (WPVibes and Campus Connect organiser), and Maciej Pilarski (WordPress Credits admin) — discuss how WordPress education is expanding worldwide through three complementary initiatives: the WordPress Credits Program, Campus Connect, and Student Clubs. Their work connects students to open source, builds local capacity, and creates pathways from learning to contribution.
What each initiative is and how they differ
WordPress Credits Program
– A contribution-based course run by the WordPress Foundation that integrates open source contribution into higher education curricula. Courses typically run 50 or 150 hours over a semester. Students are onboarded to the WordPress and open source ecosystems, pick contribution areas (any make.wordpress.org team), and complete a final project or post.
– Each student is paired with a vetted mentor from the WordPress community. Successful participants receive an official certificate from the WordPress Foundation (signed by Matt), a badge, and a record of contributions on their wordpress.org profile that acts as a portfolio for future employers.
– Progress to date: rapid growth from a handful of universities to 21 institutions, 450 students globally enrolled, and 75 graduates so far. The program was pioneered at the University of Pisa and now includes non-technical disciplines as well.
Campus Connect
– A flexible, barrier-light event series for any learning site: universities, schools, libraries, vocational institutions. It can be a single workshop or multi-day series and is designed to introduce WordPress to students of all ages and backgrounds.
– Campus Connect is organised locally by community volunteers and campus partners. It aims to spark interest, create demonstrable outcomes (most participants leave having made a website), and open doors to deeper collaboration with institutions.
– Since being made an official WordPress event series in May 2025, Campus Connect has delivered 42 events across 71 institutions and reached more than 5,500 students. Organisers can request a certificate of participation signed by WordPress Foundation executive director Mary Hubbard.
Student Clubs
– Peer-led, in-campus meetups run by students for students to sustain momentum between one-off events. Clubs typically meet monthly or bi-monthly and focus on peer learning, practical builds, quizzes, speed-builds, mini-hackathons, and passing knowledge to junior students.
– Clubs create leadership opportunities, reduce onboarding friction for newcomers, and form the long-term backbone of campus engagement. They also provide a pathway from learning to contribution and can connect to Credits or Campus Connect activities.
How the programs reinforce each other
– Campus Connect often opens the door and proves impact; Student Clubs keep momentum going and foster leadership on campus; WordPress Credits formalises contribution for academic credit and creates an official bridge between universities and the project.
– These flows are bidirectional. A Credits partnership can surface Campus Connect opportunities and Student Clubs, while Campus Connect and Student Clubs can lead institutions to consider formal credits arrangements.
Scaling and reducing barriers
– Organisers focus on lowering bureaucracy for Campus Connect to make events easy to launch: a building, some students, and a willing facilitator can be enough.
– To help less confident facilitators, Destiny is building a Meetup Activity Library: facilitator guides, slide decks, and hands-on activity kits (for example, WordPress Playground). These remove friction for first-time organisers.
– A Facilitator Training Program is being developed to prepare more community members and educational staff to run events, scale support, and maintain quality as participation grows.
Measuring success and impact
– Quantitative metrics (events, institutions, student reach) matter, but organisers emphasise long-term and qualitative measures: repeat events at the same campus, faculty asking to learn how to run activities themselves, students forming clubs, and student stories of ongoing engagement.
– Examples of visible wins include a Women’s Day event in Ajmer where 50% of ticket buyers were students, and a new partnership in Uganda initiated after WordCamp Asia.
– The WordPress Credits program aims to seed long-term contributors; even if not all students stay as contributors, those who do bring fresh perspectives and help sustain the project.
Visibility and community support
– Education is getting more prominent attention within the WordPress ecosystem: an education table at contributor days, educational tracks at flagship WordCamps (WordCamp Europe plans an education track and student showcases), and monthly Education Buzz Reports to surface wins.
– New credentials and initiatives, such as an AI Leaders credential, make WordPress relevant to current tech trends and help attract students who want practical, modern skills.
Why this matters
– The WordPress community needs younger contributors and users to remain healthy and relevant across decades. Education initiatives open access to open source ethics, real contribution, and career pathways for people who might never have considered WordPress otherwise.
– Beyond technical skills, involvement builds leadership, public speaking, teamwork, and real-world experience — qualities that help students succeed whether they enter agency work, start businesses, or contribute to open source.
How to get involved
– If you want to help: volunteer as a mentor for Credits, organise or support a Campus Connect event, start or support a Student Club, or join facilitator training. Communities welcome diverse contributions: teaching, logistics, translation, mentorship.
– Look for local contacts after published show notes, the Education Buzz Report, the Learn WordPress resources, and make.wordpress.org/community for links and next steps. Organisers emphasise low barriers — you can get started with a simple event or a conversation with a campus contact.
Final note
These initiatives are building an ecosystem that introduces students to WordPress, supports ongoing peer learning, and gives motivated learners a route into contribution and careers. The combination of formal credit, flexible outreach, and student-led clubs is creating sustainable, global pathways into the project. If you care about open source, community growth, or helping the next generation of web creators, there are practical ways to get involved starting today.