Microsoft Offers $38, 6-Year Office 365 Pricing for Education

Microsoft has announced simplified pricing for education customers that are using versions of the software beyond the free Office 365 (A1).

Beginning on Nov. 1, 2021, the company will be offering a new education license for Microsoft 365 A1 that costs $38 per device for a six-year license. That edition includes all Office desktop applications, including Teams, as well as cloud management. The new edition also includes Minecraft: Education Edition. This version enables colleges and universities to support student learning on desktop Office apps with or without an internet connection.

Microsoft will continue making Office 365 available free to users with an EDU e-mail address on a per-user basis.

The company also announced that teachers and students will be able to share handwriting from a whiteboard or document using their laptop's camera via Microsoft Teams Content. The new feature is intended to help create a more inclusive classroom experience for each learner, whether they're in the room or joining online. That functionality will be available beginning in December.

Microsoft Teams content from camera feature

Teams content sharing feature

For more information, visit the Microsoft blog post.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • teacher

    6 Policy Recommendations for Incorporating AI in the Classroom

    The Southern Regional Education Board's Commission on AI in Education has published six recommendations for states on adopting artificial intelligence in schools, colleges, and universities. The guidance marks the commission's first release since it was established last February, with more recommendations planned in the coming year.

  • Stylized illustration showing cybersecurity elements like shields, padlocks, and secure cloud icons on a neutral, minimalist digital background

    Microsoft Announces Security Advancements

    Microsoft has announced major security advancements across its product portfolio and practices. The work is part of its Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a multiyear cybersecurity transformation the company calls the largest engineering project in company history.

  • minimalist digital network with glowing interconnected lines and nodes

    Integration Brings Cerebras Inference Capabilities to Hugging Face Hub

    AI hardware company Cerebras has teamed up with Hugging Face, the open source platform and community for machine learning, to integrate its inference capabilities into the Hugging Face Hub.

  • illustration with geometric shapes, digital circuitry, and subtle icons of an open book, graduation cap, and lightbulb

    University of Michigan Launches Agentic AI Virtual Teaching Assistant

    At the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, a new Virtual Teaching Assistant pilot program is utilizing agentic AI to provide students with 24/7 access to support and self-directed learning.