Microsoft has announced that it is offering 365 Personal with Copilot access to students for free. This free offer will come with a validity of 12 months, after which students will be charged for the services. This new plan offers students the ability to use Copilot for studying, research, writing, and organisation.
Microsoft 365 Personal is priced in India at Rs. 689 per month, effectively making it Rs. 8,268 for the whole year. This means students get a benefit of more than Rs. 8,000 with this offer. Microsoft is giving this 12-month free offer to college student users who are not currently Microsoft 365 Personal student offer subscribers.
Microsoft 365 Personal plan benefits include access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook desktops with Copilot. The plan also offers higher usage limits than free for select Copilot features. All of this can be accessed for up to five devices, simultaenously. This plan works on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. Microsoft offers access to Designer AI-powered image creator and editor, up to 1T of secure cloud storage, access to Microsoft Defender and Clipchamp video editor.
Copilot is one of the biggest benefit with this offer. Usage limits are higher than in the free Copilot version. It appears as a sidebar in 365 Personal apps, helping with rote tasks like drafting documents, analysing data in Excel, summarising emails, creating presentations, and generating ideas. It also offers access to Copilot tools like Deep Research, Podcasts (with limited daily uses), Vision for image analysis, and multimodal features including image-to-video generation.
Who is eligible for the free offer?
- You must be enrolled in a degree programme (undergraduate or postgraduate) at a recognised college or university.
- A valid student or university email address is required for verification (personal emails may work in some cases, but institutional ones are preferred and often necessary).
- The offer targets higher education students who have completed secondary school.
- Availability varies by region; it is confirmed in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and India, among others in the expanded rollout.
How to claim the offer: Step-by-step guide
1. Visit the official Microsoft Copilot for students page: microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/ai-for-students (or search "Microsoft Copilot free for students" on the Microsoft site and select the redeem option).
2. Click the button to redeem or sign up for the free 12-month offer.
3. Enter your valid college or university email address when prompted.
4. Microsoft will verify your student status (this may happen automatically or via a third-party service).
5. If approved, you will receive a confirmation and an activation email, often within 24 hours.
6. Follow the link in the email to sign in with your Microsoft account and activate the subscription.
7. Once active, download the Microsoft 365 apps or use them online, and start using Copilot features across up to five devices.
