College life is expensive enough without adding monthly software bills to the mix. Between tuition, books, and housing, the last thing most students want to worry about is paying for the tools they need to actually do their work. Microsoft has stepped in with a significant promotion that bundles some of its most popular professional tools into a free package for anyone currently enrolled in school. Specifically, Microsoft is giving away 12 months free Microsoft 365 alongside a year of LinkedIn Premium Career.
The total value of this offer sits right around 300 dollars. For a student, that is a lot of grocery money or several textbooks worth of savings. It is a smart way to get the latest versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into the hands of people who are about to enter the job market.
Getting more than just a word processor
When you sign up for this deal, you get the Personal version of the 365 suite. This means you can install the apps on your laptop, tablet, and phone simultaneously. One of the most useful parts of this is the 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage. Students generate a massive amount of data over four years, and having a secure place to dump every draft, research PDF, and project file is a huge relief.
Since Microsoft is giving away 12 months free Microsoft 365, you also get the benefit of continuous updates. You aren’t stuck with a static version of the software that gets buggy as your operating system updates. You get the latest features as they roll out, which is helpful if you are working on complex data sets in Excel or high end presentations for a final.
The LinkedIn advantage for the job hunt
The LinkedIn Premium Career subscription included in this bundle is often the part that students find most useful as graduation approaches. The standard free version of LinkedIn is fine for basic networking, but the Career tier shows you exactly how you compare to other applicants for a specific role. You get to see the skills your competitors have and where you might need to fill in the gaps.
Access to LinkedIn Learning is another big win here. There are thousands of courses on everything from creative writing to advanced coding. If a job description asks for a skill you didn’t learn in a specific class, you can likely find a course for it there and add the certification to your profile. Since Microsoft is giving away 12 months free Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn together, the transition from writing a resume in Word to networking on LinkedIn becomes a lot smoother.
Verification and how to sign up
Microsoft uses a third party service called SheerID to make sure people don’t game the system. To get the deal, you have to provide proof of enrollment. This usually involves using your school email address or uploading a photo of your student ID. It takes a few minutes to process, but once you are cleared, the licenses are tied to your account for the next year.
The bundle also includes access to an app called Career Coach. It is built within Microsoft Teams and uses AI to help you identify your career goals and find the right paths to reach them. It is clear that the goal here is to get students comfortable with the entire Microsoft ecosystem before they land their first official office job. By the time the free year is up, you will likely have a solid portfolio and a professional network already in place.
Release and Price Details
The Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn Premium bundle is available for $0 to verified students for a period of 12 months. After the first year, the subscription will typically renew at the standard retail price of approximately $69.99 for Microsoft 365 Personal and $39.99 per month for LinkedIn Premium, unless canceled. Verification is handled through the Microsoft student portal via SheerID.
