College kids have always had it a little rough in the financial department, but now that prices have gone up on just about everything, you can only imagine what it’s like trying to get through school as a student on a budget today. Care-free college days can easily be overshadowed by the costs of classes, books and room and board — let alone any extracurriculars.
Luckily, college students do get breaks on some goods and streaming services, like Spotify and Hulu, that make life a little more affordable. If you verify your student status with a valid .edu school email or proof of enrollment (usually through a service like SheerID or UNiDAYS), you can also score discounts on Amazon Prime, Microsoft Office, United Airlines and more.
We’ve done some of the work for you and rounded up some great student discount opportunities. Also be sure to check in with your school’s housing department and student bookstore to see if there are any other offers through your school, like on other streaming services or devices and software. You can also check if your state is offering a sales tax exemption for school supplies, clothing, computers and more.
Student discounts on food, fitness, travel and entertainment
Get breaks on subscriptions, services and products you love once you verify your student status.
Every once in a while it’s nice to treat yourself to takeout, especially if you’re in the dorms or living off Top Ramen. With Student DashPass, college students can skip the delivery fee on restaurant orders (on purchases over $12) or grocery orders (on purchases over $25) and will have lower service fees in general. After verifying student status, college students can enjoy DashPass at 50% off, which is $4.99 a month or $48 annually instead of the normal $9.99 a month or $96 a year. Depending on your order frequency, the delivery savings can really add up.
Amtrak can be a great way to travel, and it’s even better when it’s at a discount. Students between the ages of 17 and 24 with a valid student ID can save 15% on regular-priced fares when booking travel at least one day in advance. Get a head start planning that cross-country spring break train trip with friends. Or why not finally book a weekend trip to a neighboring town you want to explore?
If you’re living off campus and have access to a kitchen, Blue Apron can be a great way to make fast, healthy meals each week. If you verify through ID.me, students can save 50% on the first four weeks of a new subscription, as well as free shipping the first week. One of the great things about Blue Apron is that you can choose meals that are deemed “fast & easy,” which are perfect for students and involve low prep and quick cook times. Your friends will be so impressed!
If you’re traveling for fun or even back home for school breaks, you can take advantage of United’s young adult discount of 5% on United Economy and Basic Economy seats if you’re a MileagePlus member. The only stipulation is that you must be between 18 and 23 at the time of booking — you don’t actually have to be a verified student for this discount. Note that this promotion ends September 30, 2024, so take advantage and book that flight now.
Love kombucha but not the price tag? Fear not, students can use their UNiDAYS account to receive 25% orders of Health-Ade Kombucha, Health-Ade Glow Up Kombucha or the brand’s SunSip prebiotic soda. Improving gut health may not be at the forefront of your college pursuits, but when it tastes this good, it doesn’t feel like work. And with a great discount, it’s an even sweeter deal.
Dying to watch the Frasier reboot but can’t afford Paramount Plus?
College students no longer need to worry about that. Paramount Plus offers all college students 25% off a Paramount Plus subscription, bringing the bill down from $5.99 a month to $4.50. All you have to do is verify your student status before signing up for a subscription.
Saving a buck a month, your only worry will be whether to watch Big Brother or Big Time Rush.
You don’t need a Peloton bike in order to take Peloton classes, which include not only cycling, but also HIIT, running, strength training, yoga and more. The Peloton app offers all that via phone, tablet and most streaming devices.
The regular subscription price is $13 a month; verified students with a valid college ID can get it for half that. Additionally, you get the first month free if you’ve never tried Peloton before.
Apple’s streaming service is already fairly affordable at $7 a month, but if you’re a full-time student, you can sign up for a student subscription (see below) and you’ll get Apple TV Plus at no extra charge. Students can get these two services bundled together for $6 a month, as described below. Decisions, decisions!
In addition to hardware discounts (see below), Apple offers its Music subscription service for students for up to four years. That subscription nets you access to some 50 million songs, and it’s accessible on all your Apple devices. You also get Apple TV Plus.
Normally $13.99 a month, YouTube Premium is a two-fer: You get ad-free YouTube videos (including the option to download them for offline viewing) and unlimited access to YouTube Music for just $8 a month.
Just want YouTube Music? That service is $5.49 a month for students (regularly $10.99). Both options allow for a free one-month trial if you want to test the waters first.
Not to be confused with the Prime Music benefit, which is included with an Amazon Prime subscription, or Prime Student, which you can read about below. Music Unlimited is Amazon’s full-on, massive-library music service, which rivals the likes of Apple Music and Spotify. Anyone who has a student subscription can get Music Unlimited for just $6 a month after a free 30-day trial — by far the cheapest music-streaming option anywhere.
Arguably the best student deal in the history of student deals, Spotify Premium offers a $6 ad-free plan that includes Hulu (ad-supported). Nonstudents pay a minimum of $10 and $8 a month, for a grand total of $18. That’s an awful lot of entertainment for $6.
If you already have a premium account, it’s easy enough to convert to the student version. If you’re part of a family plan, however, check into whether it would be cheaper for the family to keep you on the $16 plan.
Just want Hulu? Keep reading.
If you don’t need or want Spotify or Showtime, Hulu proper now offers a dirt-cheap deal for students: Just $2 monthly for the standard plan (meaning with commercials), $6 off the regular price.
As with most any discounted membership, you just need to prove your eligibility with a valid student ID. Thankfully, this offer is good even if you’re already a Hulu subscriber. It’s not just for newcomers.
Keeping up with the news as a college student can be particularly challenging as online newspapers begin to up their subscription prices and print newspapers go out of business. If you want to stay in touch with what’s happening in the world but don’t want to pay outrageous subscription prices, The Wall Street Journal has the package for you.
For $4 a month full-time students can gain unlimited access to all articles and podcasts on The Wall Street Journal website. Prefer to read a physical newspaper? The WSJ also offers a Student Digital and Print Pack for $10 a month.
Learn about the world and the forces that shape it with a subscription to UK-based news magazine The Economist. Sign up now to get 75% off annual and monthly subscriptions.
At-home workouts are hard, but Alo Moves helps to make them easy. Alo Moves offers guided classes in everything from pilates to yoga to dance cardio and even just announced their new running series, “Ready, Set, Run.” After a month-long free trial, the subscription costs $5 per month or you can do the annual subscription for $49 per year.
Student discounts on education
Need help studying? Here are some of the best sources to help with learning, writing papers and acing the test.
Chances are, most college students have used Quizlet once or twice to help out with a study guide. Quizlet makes it easy for students to study using flash cards, practice exams and more. Even better, you can look at flash cards made by other users to help with your studying. Quizlet also recently announced the launch of a new AI-powered program making it even easier to make flash cards, take notes and study for upcoming exams.
Quizlet Plus provides expert solutions to complicated problems and enhanced studying techniques. After your first month trial week, Quizlet Plus offers a year-long membership for $36.
Student discounts on money management
If there’s one thing most students could use a hand with, it’s managing money.
You Need a Budget offers a wealth of tools and classes to that end. It normally costs $99 a year or $15 per month, but as a student you can get the first year absolutely free. But be warned, unlike a lot of other digital services, the only way you get this discount is by submitting physical proof of enrollment to the company.
Financial institutions may offer student deals as well. Bank of America, for example, will waive monthly fees if you do all your banking through its banking app and ATMs.
Wells Fargo offers a similar deal to Bank of America’s and will waive monthly fees for students 17 to 24 years old.
Student discounts on apps and software
While you may be able to get software at a discount through your school’s bookstore, you’ll want to check out these exclusive student offers too.
Evernote gives students 40% off the professional version for a year. That works out to $6 a month for industrial-strength note-taking. After that first year, however, the price goes back to the regular $11 monthly.
A resume is one of the most important aspects of an initial job or internship application so make sure you have it done right with Resoume, the AI resume writer. It’s simple all you have to do is import your information from LinkedIn, choose the resume theme and let Resoume do the rest. You can get this helpful tool for 77% off, taking the initial price tag of $180 all the way down to $40.
Student discounts on shopping and tech
From Amazon to Apple, you can save up to 50% on services and devices.
With an Amazon Prime Student membership, you can all get the benefits of a Prime subscription for half the price of the regular service. The student program includes free one- and two-day shipping, video streaming via Prime Video, Prime Reading, Prime Music, discounts at Whole Foods, and unlimited online photo storage through Prime Photos.
Prime Student starts with a free six-month trial and then goes for $69 a year (half the cost of a regular Prime subscription). You can participate for four years. Plus, if you rent or buy or sell textbooks through the Amazon textbook store, you can get free two-day shipping.
Students, teachers and administrators can all score an extra 5% off Lenovo’s laptops and that’s on top of any existing sales or bundles (with a few exclusions, of course). You’ll have to provide verification at checkout.
Apple offers modest discounts on Macs, iPads and more through its Education Store. The discounts are for current and incoming college students and their parents, as well as educators. Discounts typically are around 10% off the retail price. And now through Sept. 30, students who purchase a Mac or iPad, can also receive a gift card worth up to $150
Adorama’s Classroom Connect program promises exclusive discounts on video, audio and photography gear, from brands like Sigma, Sony and Fujifilm. To sign up, just set up an Adorama account and then use Sheer ID to verify your student status.
