As college prices rise across the board, students need new ways to save money and reduce student loans. Since we don’t expect colleges to cut tuition or radically increase scholarships, students themselves are left with the burden of conserving money.
Thankfully, a number of companies recognized the opportunity to extend their services. It’s a fair trade for them; by offering a discount, these excellent, world-class businesses can introduce themselves to a generation of students, who may become loyal customers in the future.
To make your college life a little easier, we’ve found three of the best student discounts available online, along with a bonus tip at the end.
Amazon Student Prime
If you didn’t know, Amazon.com ships everything. In fact, the “smile” in their logo was originally meant to indicate that they sell everything from A to Z:
The website looks clean, works great, and truly offers a huge range of products at affordable prices with lightning-fast shipping: some products are even eligible for same-day delivery. Of course, that may come at a price to some…
So, how does Amazon Student Prime work?
Along with Amazon’s famously low prices, Student Prime offers free 2-day shipping on most products, with free 1-day shipping on a few. If today is Friday and you need a textbook by Monday, Amazon student Prime can deliver. Also, their prices almost always beat out campus book stores.
To sign up, visit this page and follow the easy instructions. You’ll need to put down your school, then create an Amazon account if you don’t already have one. After that, you’re good to start shopping!
When you Student Prime ends, normal Prime costs $99 per year. Don’t worry though, the regular service adds Prime Video, which isn’t offered in the student service. That means you’ll also be able to watch shows like Grand Tour!
(NOTE: remember to sign up for Student Prime next period while still in college. If you don’t, Amazon may automatically change your account to paid.)
Microsoft Office
Ever used Word? Excel Spreadsheets? PowerPoint? If so, you’ve experienced a portion of Microsoft Office, one of the world’s best productivity suites.
Like Amazon, Microsoft offers their service completely free to current students and teachers: visit here to check it out!
Once you’ve entered your college and signed onto the account, Microsoft allows you full access to their applications. You’re free to write sociology essays in Word, create Spreadsheets for finance and accounting classes, or design PowerPoints for that public speaking course. Also, with Office’s budding online collaborative tools, you’ll be able to make group projects easier… hopefully.
When your year of free Microsoft Office ends, you can re-apply if you’re still a student. Microsoft doesn’t transfer you to a paid account, it blocks document editing until you either confirm your student status or begin paying for a yearly subscription.
Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe generally appeals to a more creative crowd, but its abilities are nonetheless far-reaching: Illustrator excels at creating graphic design, while Photoshop allows you to edit images. Acrobat Pro offers tools for working with PDF documents, while Premier Pro boasts some of the best video editing software. To name a few.
Unfortunately, Creative Cloud only offers a discount, not a free service like Microsoft. Normally, Adobe provides 1-year subscriptions to their entire creative cloud at a whopping $53 a month ($600 annually). The student version takes the price down to $20 a month ($240 annually).
You don’t need to renew your student status each year, but Adobe does begin to raise the price for each year you don’t. If you plan to do a lot of work with painting, illustrating, graphic design, video editing, or another creative area, stay on top of your subscription and the $20 a month may very well be worth it.
University-Specific Offers
Don’t forget to check your school’s website for student discounts, or call the student help desk for more information! Schools make exclusive business connections with surprising frequency. There’s no telling what programs may be offered at your college, free or discounted.
On the other hand, if you wanted a specific product that isn’t available, consider reaching out to both your university and the specific business. With a little work, you may be the catalyst that brings them together!
