Microsoft launches Student Advantage worldwide, lets teachers who bought Office 365 give it to students for free
Microsoft today announced the worldwide launch of a program called Student Advantage. In short, the move lets teachers offer Office 365 to their students for free.
Context & Ripple Effects
Student Advantage is the third step in a long Microsoft playbook for the education market: the company discounted Office Ultimate 2007 to just $60 for students in 2007, then used hardware as the hook with a free Xbox 360 bundled into Windows 7 PC purchases in 2011. The 2013 move drops the price to zero entirely — but only through an intermediary, requiring a teacher or institution that already pays for Office 365.
First-order effects
- Students at schools with Office 365 get the desktop Office suite free, removing the last paid tier between Microsoft and its next generation of users.
- Teachers and IT administrators become Microsoft's distribution channel: eligibility flows through the institution's existing subscription rather than any retail or consumer purchase.
Second-order effects
- Google's free Apps for Education offering now faces a rival that matches the zero price point while keeping users inside paid desktop Office, forcing the classroom-suite comparison onto features and device integration.
- Institutions weighing Office 365 adoption gain a new argument for signing up — every staff license effectively buys student licenses — which shifts the sales conversation toward site-wide agreements.
Third-order effects
- If giving software away through institutions becomes the norm, education solidifies as a land-grab market where suite vendors compete on habit formation rather than per-seat revenue, betting on conversion when students graduate into paying workplaces.
The trend: Software pricing for students is moving from discounts to institution-funded free distribution, as subscription vendors treat classrooms as the cheapest acquisition channel for future paying subscribers.