College Students Can Now Get Microsoft 365 Personal for Free
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There are plenty of office apps available today, but many still consider Microsoft Office to be the gold standard. The problem is that, unlike Google’s suite of apps, Office is largely a paid service: while the web apps are free to use , full access requires a Microsoft 365 subscription, which adds a monthly or annual cost to your budget.
Luckily for some of us, that’s changing — at least for the next year. As The Verge reports , Microsoft is offering college students 12 months of free Microsoft 365 Personal. Normally priced at $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month, the plan includes Microsoft Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.
In addition to the Office apps themselves, Microsoft 365 Personal also includes access to Microsoft Copilot in the desktop version of those apps, as well as Designer and an AI-powered image generator and editor. Microsoft has been pushing the integration of AI into its apps for over two years, and whether or not you find these tools useful, they’re available as part of this free plan. It’s important to note, however, that Copilot in Excel requires AutoSave to be enabled, which saves all files to OneDrive, while Copilot in Outlook only works with @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, or @msn.com accounts.
As part of this plan, Microsoft also provides 1 TB of cloud storage and support for Microsoft Defender. You will need to download the Defender app on the devices you select.
This plan will give you one year of Microsoft 365 Personal for free, but you won’t have to pay the full price after the plan expires. Instead, Microsoft is offering a 50% discount on a monthly Microsoft 365 Personal subscription if you’re still an eligible student.
Eligibility and Admission
Microsoft does not limit this offer to any specific categories of students. Only students enrolled in an accredited college or university are eligible to participate in this promotion. This applies to both full-time and part-time students.
However, you will need to verify your eligibility as a current college student. Microsoft says you can verify your status using your school email account, school account, “enrollment information,” International Student Identity Cad, verification code, or other documents such as a dated student ID card, current grade report, current class schedule, or acceptance letter.
As with other student plans, Microsoft will review your eligibility once a year. If you qualify during this review, your discounted rate will continue for an additional 12 months.