How to get Microsoft Office 365 for dirt cheap as a student

Free alternatives may exist for Microsoft Office components, but sometimes they can’t stand in for the original. And as a student, the new cost of $100 per year for a Microsoft 365 Personal account is pretty expensive—but fortunately, you may not have to pay to use the software.

Depending on where you go to school, you may qualify for a free or heavily discounted Microsoft 365 subscription. The student version gives you the same access to Office apps (including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage, video editing software, and more.

For many students, your school email address will be enough to check your eligibility—and you may not even need to go through that process.

How to get Microsoft 365 for free as a student

Your school may have an agreement with Microsoft to provide Microsoft 365 for free. You can check in a few different ways:

• Searching for your school’s name and microsoft 365 (or office 365)
• Scanning your school’s website and/or your student portal for info on free software available to students
• Contacting your school’s IT department directly and asking

If you go to a state or a local community college, don’t assume that your school wouldn’t have resources to offer this for free—it’s not a perk exclusive to more expensive universities. For example, in San Francisco (where PCWorld’s office is located), the local junior college and state university provide Microsoft 365 access to their students.

How to get Microsoft 365 for cheap as a student

Students attending US colleges and universities with Title IV accreditation qualify for a student discount on the Microsoft 365 Personal plan, which discounts the price down to just $5 per month.

You must sign up through the Microsoft 365 student website, which will ask you to verify your student status. If you qualify, you’ll be charged once a month at the student rate until you lose your eligibility. (You must reverify your student status once a year.) Your rate will then go up to the standard Personal plan price at that time.

When that happens—or should you no longer need your account—you can cancel your subscription whenever you wish. (Or you can use this trick to keep getting a discounted Office 365 plan.)