Microsoft Office 365 Student Edition has been free for eligible students for a while now, although it apparently has not been as widespread as Redmond would like. The company has changed how these students apply for the subscription, from going through the University IT department to applying for the license themselves.
This scheme still only applies to students who are attending an institution that owns an organisation wide Microsoft Licensing Program. Although it is much easier for these students to obtain the Office 365 subscription in the case that it does. All they have to do is download the installer and sign in with the provided school/university provided email address.
Qualified students will receive the latest versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access and Publisher; installation on up to five PCs or Macs, and Office apps on other mobile devices including Windows tablets and iPad; 1 Terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage; and access to Office Online. Essentially it works out to be the same as regular Office 365 subscription.
Microsoft is making this change today in the US, with the programme extending world wide by the end of the year.
Faculty members and staff will soon also be able to receive the same benefits as their students. The same option will be provided to teachers and anyone else who also has an email address from the institution. This programme is due to kick off on 1 December 2014.
[Source: Microsoft Office]
