College students in the U.S. can avail a free one-year Microsoft 365 subscription. Here's what's included in the package.
This is not the same as Microsoft 365 Online, which is free for everyone. Microsoft 365 Personal (formerly called Office 365) includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook. You can access these apps on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android. It also comes with 1TB of storage space on OneDrive in the free subscription. And before you ask, yes it includes Microsoft Copilot in desktop apps for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Designer, etc.
Word will auto save your documents in OneDrive, you may wish to change that. Copilot in Excel requires AutoSave to be enabled. The Redmond company had recently warned that Copilot in Excel lacks accuracy. Please note that Windows 11 will soon automatically install two companion apps on your PC, if you have Microsoft 365 Desktop apps installed.
So, why is Microsoft 365 Personal being given away for free? And why only in the United States? Microsoft announced the news as part of its commitment to the U.S. Government's efforts to increase AI education in the Country. That explains a lot.
Microsoft 365 Personal normally costs $99.99 per year, or $9.99 per month. Getting it for free can be great for students. You may want to set a reminder to cancel the membership after 12 months, otherwise you will be charged for the subscription on a monthly basis. If you choose to continue with Microsoft 365 after 12 months, you can do so for 50% off, i.e. $4.99 per month. This offer ends on October 31st, or until supplies last. Go to this page to claim your free subscription.
Users who wish to claim the Microsoft 365 student 12-month free trial and discount offer will need to use their college or university email address to verify their student status. You will also need to provide a payment method, likely a credit card, to claim the offer. Existing subscribers can also claim the offer, instructions for this are provided on the offer page.
Please refer to the terms and conditions on Microsoft's website for more details.
A word of advice, if you are concerned about your privacy, I strongly recommend using LibreOffice which is completely free, open source, supports Office document formats, and is available across platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux. Sure, it lacks the online features of Microsoft 365, but you can't put a price tag on privacy.
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