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There are a lot of productivity apps available today, but many still see Microsoft Office as the gold standard. The problem is, unlike Google’s suite of apps, Office is largely paywalled: While you can use the web apps for free, if you want to access these programs in full, you’ll need to subscribe to Microsoft 365, adding another monthly or yearly cost to your budget.
Luckily for some of us, that’s now changing—at least for the next year. As The Verge reports, Microsoft is now offering 12 months of Microsoft 365 Personal for free to college students. This plan, which typically costs either $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month, comes with Microsoft Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook across platforms like PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.
In addition to the Office apps themselves, Microsoft 365 Personal also comes with Microsoft Copilot access in the desktop version of these apps, as well as Designer, and AI-powered image generator and editor. Microsoft has been pushing AI integration in its apps for over two years now, and whether or not you find these tools useful, they are available as part of this free plan. It’s important to note, however, that Copilot in Excel requires AutoSave enabled, which saves all files to OneDrive, while Copilot use in Outlook only works with @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, or @msn.com accounts.
Microsoft is also throwing in 1TB of cloud storage as part of this plan, as well as Microsoft Defender support. You’ll need to download the Defender app to your devices of choice.
This plan will net you one free year of Microsoft 365 Personal, but you won’t have to pay full price once it expires. Instead, Microsoft is offering a 50% discount on the monthly rate of Microsoft 365 Personal, so long as you are still an eligible student.
Microsoft isn’t really restricting this deal to specific types of college students. As long as you are enrolled in an accredited college or university, you are eligible for this promotion. That includes both full and part-time students.
That said, you will need to verify your eligibility as a current college student. Microsoft says you can verify your status with your school’s email account, school account, “enrollment details,” International Student Identity Cad, verification code, or other documentation like a dated student ID, up to date progress report, current class schedule, or school acceptance letter.
Like other student plans, Microsoft will check your eligibility once a year. As long as you meet the requirements during this check, you’ll be set with your discounted plan for another 12 months.
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Jake Peterson
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