Microsoft Software Assurance for Education: Academic Discounts on Microsoft Software

Microsoft Software Assurance for education

Microsoft Software Assurance is a maintenance program that can help you gain control of your technology strategy, improve information technology (IT) staff skills, decrease support spending, and effectively plan for new software deployments. It isn't just about acquiring software. It's about getting the most from your investment. Learn more about Software Assurance.

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Benefits
How to get Software Assurance
How to activate your benefits

Benefits

Refer to the table below to see which Software Assurance benefits are available though Microsoft Volume licensing for Academic. Note: Benefits are subject to change. Please refer to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Product List to verify current benefit availability.

Contact us for: licensing questions, technical specifications, price estimates

Next steps

Lifecycle Stage	Benefit	Open License for Academic	Select License for Academic, Select Plus for Academic	Campus and School Agreement
Plan
Plan	New Version Rights	Every License covered under Software Assurance may be upgraded to the newest version.
Plan	Spread Payments	Not Available	Payments for License and Software Assurance can be spread into equal annual payments.
Use
Use	Home Use Program (HUP)	Not Available		For each Microsoft Office Application License covered by Software Assurance, the user of the licensed software is entitled to one copy of the correspond ing program for use at home.
	Windows Vista Enterprise	For every Windows client license covered under Software Assurance, you are entitled to one Windows Vista Enterprise upgrade license.
	E-Learning	For every Office System application license covered under Software Assurance you are entitled to one license for Software Assurance Applications E-Learning. For every Windows Client licenses covered under Software Assurance you are entitled to one license for Software Assurance Systems E-Learning. For every Server License covered with Software Assurance you are entitled to one license for Software Assurance Servers E-Learning.
Maintain
Maintain	Cold Back Up for Disaster Recovery	For every Server License covered with Software Assurance, you are entitled to run one instance of the software on a "cold" server for disaster recovery purposes.
	TechNet Software Assurance Subscription Services	Not Available	You are entitled to one User ID per enrollment.¹
	TechNet Plus Direct	Not Available	You are entitled to one subscription per enrollment.¹
Transition
Transition	Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs	Not Available		For every Windows client license covered under Software Assurance you are entitled to install one copy of Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs as the Windows Client license.
	Extended Hotfix Support	SERVER: 90-day enrollment not required. Annual contract fee for Exchange, MOM, SMS, SQL and Windows Server is included as part of the Software Assurance program.
	Extended Hotfix Support	DESKTOP: Not Available	DESKTOP: 90 day enrollment not required. Annual contract fees for Windows Client and Office Pro are included as part of Software Assurance.
¹Minimum of five server licenses must be acquired to qualify.

How to get Software Assurance

You can get Software Assurance by including it with licenses acquired through the Open License for Academic, Select License for Academic, and Select Plus for Academic licensing programs. For Campus Agreement and School Agreement licensing programs, all products covered by your subscription enrollment are automatically enrolled in Software Assurance for the designated term.

If you acquire software licenses through retail full-package product (FPP)* or from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), you have 90 days to enroll these licenses in Software Assurance through the the Open License for Academic or Select License for Academic licensing programs.

*Licenses for desktop applications acquired through retail FPP may not be enrolled in Software Assurance. You may acquire upgrade licenses through the retail channel when you want to upgrade to a newer version of the software. Please see the Microsoft Volume Licensing Product List for more information.

How to activate your benefits

Your designated Software Assurance benefits administrator can activate and manage all of your benefits on the Microsoft Volume License Services (MVLS) Web site. Also, learn more about how to take advantage of the benefits Software Assurance provides across your organization.