The Volume Purchase Program allows educational institutions and businesses to purchase iOS apps in volume.
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Program Enrolment and Management
How does an institution participate in the Volume Purchase Program for Education?
Once you select an individual from your institution to manage your program, have them enrol to become a Program Manager using the Program Manager enrolment form. The Program Manager creates and edits Program Facilitator accounts.
How many Program Managers can my institution have?
Your institution can have as many Program Managers as it wants.
I’m an authorised Program Manager. How do I establish Program Facilitators?
Set up and manage your institution’s list of Program Facilitators using the Program Facilitator account manager tool. Apple will create a new Apple ID for each Program Facilitator to use exclusively in the VPP Education Store.
Existing Apple IDs cannot be used for the Volume Purchase Program. For each Program Facilitator, you will need to provide Apple with a valid email address that isn’t currently used as an Apple ID. Learn more about Apple IDs
Do you have any recommendations for setting up email accounts for my Program Facilitators?
For new Program Facilitator accounts, it is recommended that you create generic email addresses for use only with this program (PF1@institution.edu or PF2@institution.edu, for example). This will ensure that if Program Facilitators leave their current positions, your institution will be able to transfer the accounts to new Program Facilitators with minimal delay or hassle.
Program Facilitators
What is a Program Facilitator?
Program Facilitators are the people in your organisation who purchase apps. Program Facilitators can redeem Volume Vouchers in the Volume Purchase Program Education Store. They can search for apps and purchase them in variable quantities.
Can a Program Manager also act as a Program Facilitator?
Yes. Note that all Program Facilitator accounts require a unique Apple ID — the Program Manager Apple ID cannot be the same as a Program Facilitator Apple ID.
How many Program Facilitators can our institution have?
You can assign as many Program Facilitators as you like. A large primary or secondary school may wish to have one or more Program Facilitators per department or building. Each class teacher could be a Program Facilitator if that suits your organisation. A large university may want to have one or more Program Facilitators per faculty.
Now that I’m a Program Facilitator, what’s next?
Log in to the Volume Purchase Program Education Store with your new Apple ID. After logging in, you can redeem Volume Vouchers given to you by your Program Manager. You can also search for apps by name and purchase them in the quantity you need.
Selecting and Distributing Content
Are all apps in the App Store eligible to be purchased in the Volume Purchase Program Education Store?
All paid iOS apps are available through the Volume Purchase Program. This does not include in-app purchases.
Is education pricing available as part of this program?
Through the Volume Purchase Program, participating developers can provide their apps for 50 per cent off App Store prices in quantities of 20 or more.
What happens after I purchase apps?
You’ll receive an email from Apple telling you that your order has been processed. You can log in to the Volume Purchase Program Education Store and download a spreadsheet containing app-specific codes — one code per app purchased.
How do I distribute the codes to my end-users?
Institutions use a variety of means to distribute codes to end-users. Codes can be emailed to end-users (one code per end-user), or they can be placed on an internal website for end-users to download. Some Mobile Device Management (MDM) software can also facilitate this distribution.
Do app-specific codes expire after a certain time?
No, the codes do not need to be used within a fixed period of time.
Can students under the age of 13 redeem codes for apps purchased through this program?
No. An iTunes Store account is required to purchase or redeem, and individuals under the age of 13 are not allowed to open an iTunes account. Please see the iTunes Terms and Conditions.
What’s the best way to get apps into the hands of students?
A variety of deployment options are available to you. Please see the iOS 6 Education Deployment Guide.
Terms and Conditions and Ownership
What is the difference between the iTunes Store Terms and Conditions and the Volume Purchase Program Terms and Conditions?
The iTunes Store Terms and Conditions is a legal agreement that governs the use of the iTunes Store service, which permits end-users to purchase or rent digital content for end-user use only under the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement.
The Volume Purchase Program Terms and Conditions form a legal agreement that governs the use of the Volume Purchase Program, which permits approved educational institutions to purchase licences for apps solely for distribution to and use by persons associated with the institution, such as contractors, employees and students, in accordance with the iTunes Store Terms and Conditions.
Who owns the content purchased by an institution through the Volume Purchase Program?
In the case of apps, your institution has the option of retaining ownership of the app. When a student moves on, your institution can make the app available to another student.
Please see the iOS 6 Education Deployment Guide for more information.