University Entrance College is expensive. Between tuition, textbooks, and beer, it’s not always easy to budget. Add in the rising cost of living and you might not know how to manage your finances. One way to save even more money is to take advantage of student discounts. With a valid .edu email address, you can save on many essentials, leaving you with a little money left over for binge-watching Netflix or a cheap food delivery service. We’ve rounded up some of the best student discounts below.
Update August 2024: We’ve updated this guide with updated links.
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How to qualify for the .Edu discount
It used to be easy to get student discounts: you could Photoshop your student ID or Google a fake email address for $5. But thanks to third-party verification services, it’s now nearly impossible (and in some cases illegal) to obtain and use a fake discounted email address.
If you’re not a student, we don’t recommend trying to get a student’s email address. However, some education discounts are available to teachers, parents of students, and alumni as well. Getting a student discount may be as simple as verifying a code sent by the retailer to the email address in question, or it may involve relying on a third-party service such as: Unidays Verify your student status after uploading a photo of your student ID. Your school may also have its own portal to verify your account.
Once verified, you will be able to access your student discounts via the Unidays website or by logging into your Unidays account when prompted at stores that use your Unidays account as a method of authentication. ID Me, Shear IDand Student beans These are other services that act as verification methods and shopping portals.
Technology
Your school shopping list probably includes a few gadgets: headphones, a laptop, a USB-C dongle, etc. The stores below offer all of the gadgets and gadgets you need at student discount prices. For more WIRED-tested picks, check out our buying guides for the best dorm gear, best laptops, best keyboards, and more.
Apple’s education discounts typically offer around 10 percent off to students, their parents, and teachers. They usually get stronger in the fall, offering things like free AirPods with a MacBook purchase or a free Apple Pencil with an iPad purchase, and usually also offer discounts on services like AppleCare+.
Student sales are offered to students and their parents. Best Buy changes its exclusive items frequently and usually offers additional sales on discounted video games, microwaves, PC peripherals, and more.
The Dell University store offers a variety of discounts to users with .edu email addresses. Some Dell University coupon codes can be combined with other Dell deals for even more savings. Most stores don’t allow coupons to be combined, making these deals even more attractive.
Verify your .edu email address to sign up for HP education discounts, and HP says eligible shoppers could save up to 40% on select products.
Lenovo changes its discounts regularly, but students and teachers usually get about a 10 percent discount. In the past, they’ve also offered perks like free Uber vouchers after spending a certain amount. Accounts are free and authenticated with ID Me.
Verify your email via Unidays and get 25% off at Logitech.
Microsoft is offering parents, students, and educators up to 10 percent off a variety of products, including Surface devices and accessories.
Samsung’s program is aimed at students, parents, and educators, and offers up to 30% off laptops, tablets, phones (even flip phones!), and other gadgets. Other perks include discounts on accessories with the purchase of certain devices, as well as various bundle sales.
Razer’s education offers are extensive, including a number of discounted laptops. Qualifying shoppers can also get 15% off peripherals and 5% off Razer gaming chairs.
Unlimited plans are discounted by up to $25 per month for college students, and Verizon can help you save on your home internet bill, too. As is common with mobile service providers, terms and conditions apply, but if you’re a Verizon customer (or thinking about switching), it’s worth considering.
College students can get 20 percent off their entire eligible shopping trip at Target. Some exclusions apply, and you must join the free Target Circle program to take advantage of this offer.
Online Service Benefits
The services you use every day might be even cheaper thanks to your school’s inbox. Signing up for the first time? Our guides to the best live TV streaming services and best music streaming services can help you decide. Your university might offer its own discounts. Insurance companies might offer special offers for students.
Spotify Premium Student is $6 a month, a 50 percent discount, and includes Hulu with commercials. If you love TV, this is one of the best student discounts out there, especially if you’re paying $6 a month for Hulu.
Apple Music normally costs $11 per month. For students, it’s $6. The Apple Music Student subscription also includes Apple TV+. Eligibility is verified through Unidays.
Students can get 50% off Tidal’s range of premium music streaming memberships. The offer is open to high school students as well as those enrolled in higher education institutions.
Students can try Amazon Prime Student for free for six months (usually limited to one month). After the trial, students will be charged $7.49 per month instead of the usual $15. Prime Student includes some exclusive perks, including free access to Grubhub Student+ and discounts on meditation app memberships.
Students can get the ad-supported Hulu plan for just $2 a month instead of the usual $8 a month, making this a great option if you want access to Hulu but not Spotify.
YouTube Premium normally costs $14 per month, but the price drops to $8 for students after a one-month free trial. Membership includes access to both ad-free YouTube videos and ad-free YouTube Music.
Peacock Premium normally costs $6 per month, but students can get it for just $2 per month for one year. To learn more about Peacock, check out our best streaming services guide.
Software & Class Deals
Whether you need to subscribe to an online service for class or need a tool like Adobe Photoshop, these discounts can help you save.
Several of our Gear team members use this service, which comes highly recommended on just about every financial forum on the Internet. Most people find it pretty difficult to use, but it’s worth a try if you don’t mind a steep learning curve. (I found this video tutorial helpful.) Please note that this offer is only available to college students.
Eligible students, parents, and educators can get 50 percent off Ableton Live, and the same discount applies to Live bundled with Push. Ableton Live is the recommended DAW for DJs and live performers. The software is especially appealing to music creators, but if you’re looking to upload fun projects to SoundCloud, it might be worth a try. You don’t have to be a music major to take advantage of this offer; check out our guide to learning music online for more tips.
Adobe Creative Cloud includes Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat Pro, Lightroom, and more. You also get 100 gigabytes of cloud storage. It normally costs $55 per month. Students and educators can get it for $20 per month. After the first year, the $20 price increases to $30, but it’s still a decent discount if you can’t access the Adobe apps you need another way.
This bundle includes licenses for Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, and more. It is tailored for video and music creators and is priced at $200. Final Cut Pro sells for $300 on its own, so if you plan on buying these software licenses separately, this bundle is worth buying.
Provided by Dashlane
This is a great deal on one of the best password managers out there.
This freebie from GitHub includes free or discounted apps, services, software downloads, and other developer tools. Choose from over 100 options, from a free domain for one year from Namecheap, to free courses from Educative, Stripe transaction fee waiver, and access to GitHub Pro. You don’t have to use them all, but you do have to be a registered student.
The plan, reviewed through Student Beans, offers half the regular price of the annual Personal Website plan or Website Platform plan.
I haven’t used Ulysses yet, but some of my industry colleagues have raved about the writing software, which is exclusive to Apple devices. The software is known for minimizing distractions and aiding in editing. These two tools should come in handy for students. It usually costs $40 per year. The subscription ends automatically, so you don’t have to remember to cancel, but you can renew it for as long as you’re a student.
Evernote is one of the most popular note-taking apps for years. If you have a valid .edu email address, you can get 40% off a one-year Evernote Professional membership. Professional is the most comprehensive Evernote plan and includes special perks like Boolean search, calendar connectivity, and more.
Notion is similar to Evernote and Google Keep. It’s useful for everything from creating to-do lists to creating outlines and other documents. This plan is free for students and educators. As long as you have access to an email address associated with your university, you can use it for free.
Students and educators with a valid .edu email address can access Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Teams for free. While there are free alternatives to Microsoft Office products, it’s worth a try if you’re sticking with writing your essays in Word.
Prezi offers a suite of tools to perfect your digital presentations. It can integrate with Zoom or Google Meet. The service has two education premium plans for students and educators, costing $4 or $8 per month (regularly $7 or $19 per month, respectively).
This course requires a valid .edu email address. You can also sign up for a free one-year membership, especially if you’re on a tight budget. SkillShare offers classes in graphic design, journalism, photography, business marketing, and more.
That’s $22 off the regular price of a three-month subscription to Babbel, our favorite language learning app.
Bargains on clothing, magazines, food, and more
If you’re looking for a shopping spree (or a cheap dorm room upgrade), plenty of non-tech stores offer student discounts. Here are a few that stand out:
Discounts on magazine and newspaper subscriptions
We may be biased, but WIRED’s unlimited digital access for students and educators costs $5 per year. Students also save on the following subscriptions: economist, The Wall Street Journal, Atlantic OceanBloomberg, The New York Times, The Washington PostEtc. If there is a magazine or newspaper that you read often, there is a good chance that you can get a discount by subscribing to it.
Bring your student ID to the box office to receive a discounted film rate. Discounted rates vary by location, so contact your local theater for more information.
Unidays is a great way to find fashion retailers with student discounts. It also features several sporting goods and outdoor stores, so even if you don’t need clothes for an adult job interview, it might be a good way to save on sports equipment and other gear for extracurricular activities.
Amtrak offers a nationwide discount to students ages 17-24.
This company makes some of our favorite paper planners. Your student status will be verified via ID Me upon checkout.
DashPass normally costs $10 per month. Students can sign up for half the regular price. With DashPass, you can get free delivery on most orders over $12, receive special discounts and promotions, and even receive credits on DoorDash Pickup orders.
