Student AdvantageFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Overview and Office 365 InformationWhat changes are being planned for Student Option?Starting December 1, 2013, a new benefit called Student Advantage will be available for EES and OVS-ES customers that have enrolled in the academic volume licensing programs, Enrollment Education Solutions (EES) and Open Value Subscriptions-Education Solutions (OVS-ES). Academic institutions licensing Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 A3 or A4, or Office Professional Plus organization-wide for all faculty and staff via EES, OVS-ES or School programs will be eligible to offer Office 365 ProPlus to their students at no additional cost. To take advantage of this benefit, institutions will need to order the $0 Office 365 ProPlus SKU for students through their Licensing Solution Partner (LSP) or an Authorized Education Reseller (AER).

Paid Student Option remains available and can be leveraged by institutions that don’t have complete staff and faculty coverage on Office or who would like to provide their students with Office Professional Plus.

Why is Microsoft introducing these changes?Microsoft is committed to the success of each educator and student. Making it easy for every student to use the latest and best version of Office helps enable the next generation of technology and business leaders to reach their full potential through the world’s leading productivity tools.

To make it even easier for students to obtain the latest Office, Microsoft is announcing Student Advantage. Microsoft and believes this offer will help institutions improve the learning outcomes for their students by providing Microsoft’s best productivity solution at no additional licensing cost.

Are there any exceptions allowed to offer Student Advantage before it is offered on the pricelist?These changes will take effect on December 1, 2013. There will be no exceptions to offer the new Student Advantage before this date.

Is Office 365 ProPlus identical to Office 365 Education A3? Both Office 365 ProPlus and Office 365 Education A3 come with full version of Office and familiar Office applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Lync and Publisher. However, A3 provides additional services like SkyDrive Pro, Lync, SharePoint sites, archiving, Active Directory integration, and rights management. Office 365 ProPlus applications are included in A3.

Does Student Advantage replace the Office 365 University product? No, Office 365 University will continue to be sold to students at colleges and universities that do not qualify for or choose not to utilize the Student Advantage benefit.

How do Office 365 University and Office 365 ProPlus for students differ? Office 365 University is sold directly to students, which includes an extra 20 GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes per month of Skype premium. These two services are not available with Office 365 ProPlus.

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Office 365 ProPlus includes additional organizational applications such as Lync, Infopath, and a number of added technologies for organizational uses (Information Rights Management as one example) that are not available in Office 365 University. When combined with Office 365 Education A2, Office 365 ProPlus also offers more advanced collaboration tools to students.

Will students who recently purchased Office 365 University receive any credit and/or compensation if they are attending a school that offers the Student Advantage benefit?No. Office 365 University is a consumer offering and students can continue to take advantage of the 20GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes per month of Skype Premium.

If a student has installed Office 365 University on his/her computer and then attempts to install Office 365 ProPlus, what happens? Students who have any consumer Office 365 SKU can connect to their school’s Office 365 Education services from the same PC and existing installation of Office by changing their login credentials from a Microsoft Account to an OrgID account. Their Office applications will be able to save to SharePoint Online while Outlook can be connected to the Exchange Online mailbox provided by the institution.

How do students download Office 365 ProPlus after a customer has added Student Advantage to its annuity agreement?After the institution has provisioned its Office 365 tenant and provided students with login information, students will be presented with a “Get started with Office 365” window that includes a “PC & Mac – Install software and connect it to Office 365” and “phone & tablet – Setup Office 365 to work on your mobile device” options. Activation is handled automatically, so there is no exchange of “keys” per se; Office 365 ProPlus is automatically activated via KMS services.

Who provides customer support for the student downloads of Office 365 ProPlus?Students should seek support via their institutions’ help desk or via the Office 365 Community option – i.e. ask questions on the online forums.

Is Office 365 Education A3 still available?Office 365 Education A3 remains available for students, faculty and staff. Office 365 Education A3 includes features beyond the Office 365 ProPlus subscription, including archiving, voicemail, and rights management.

Volume LicensingHow does a school sign up for Student Advantage?The customer may add Student Advantage to their existing EES, OVS-ES, or School contract.

Do students need to be on Office 365 Education A2 before they can leverage no-cost Office 365 ProPlus through Student Advantage?No. Office 365 Education A2 is not required for students to leverage this benefit. But to have individual and collaborative productivity capabilities, it is recommended that institutions deploy both Office 365 Education A2 and Office 365 ProPlus for their students.

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Does faculty need to be on Office 365 before institutions can leverage this benefit for their students?No. Faculty and Staff can be on Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Education A3, Office 365 Education A4 or Office Professional Plus for the institution to use this benefit for their Students.

What do customers do that have Student Option but have not licensed Office via annuity agreements for their faculty and staff? The customer will be required to use the paid Student Option Office SKUs. But the customer will be eligible to use Student Advantage when all faculty and staff at the institution have annuity coverage of Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Education A3, Office 365 Education A4, or Office Professional Plus through OVS-ES, EES, or School contracts.

My school only has on premises Office Professional Plus for faculty and staff via EES/OVS-ES. To take advantage of the offer do I need to sign up for Office 365?Yes. To take advantage of the benefit, schools will need to order the Office 365 ProPlus for students $0 subscription. If a customer does not have a pre-existing Office 365 tenant, one will need to be established with the Office 365 ProPlus for Students SKU. Those licenses will then need to be assigned and distributed to the students with instructions on how to install.

What if a school already has Office 365 Education A2 for students and Office for faculty and staff via EES or OVS-ES? The school simply orders the Office 365 ProPlus for students $0 licenses for their existing tenant.

Can students get the non-cloud version, Office Professional Plus, for free (or no cost)? No, Student Advantage is only available to customers purchasing Office 365 ProPlus via EES, OVS-ES, and School contracts.

Can customers receive this benefit through MOSP (Microsoft Online Services Portal)? No, Student Advantage is only available to customers purchasing Office 365 ProPlus via EES, OVS-ES, and School contracts in Microsoft Volume Licensing.

What if my school is already paying for Student Option. When can we move to Student Advantage?Institutions that already have Office through Student Option can switch to Student Advantage at their next anniversary or renewal, provided they meet all the conditions of this licensing benefit. However, any qualifying Institution can add $0 Office 365 ProPlus to their existing Agreements through their LSP or an AER starting December 1st, 2013.

If an institution just paid for Student Option, will they receive credit back? There is no credit for the invoice already paid.

Is this available for Select and Open licensing programs? No, this licensing option is not available under Select and Open.

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Will the Office 365 ProPlus for student $0 license expire and need to be added and renewed every year?Yes, as part of the standard annual renewal process, customers will need to confirm / update accurate counts for all of their subscription licenses. An institution must place an order for the Office 365 ProPlus for students $0 SKU through an LSP or an AER to extend the subscription upon the anniversary date.

Can students be covered for Office 365 Education A3 with the add-on SKU now they have a no-cost Office client? Which specific add-on would they be eligible for?Students covered for Office 365 Education A3 would not need the Office 365 ProPlus for Students standalone since it is included in A3. The specific standalone SKU included with Student Advantage is Office 365 ProPlus for students.

How are new students handled with Student Advantage on Microsoft annuity agreements?New students can be added to the Student Advantage via the $0 Office 365 ProPlus for institutions with qualifying organization-wide agreements.

What happens when a student graduates? A student’s Office 365 subscription obtained through his/her institution ends upon graduation. Students may enroll in other available consumer or commercial offers.

Are there any changes to the existing Student Option?There are no changes to the Office offerings through the paid Student Option. Microsoft will continue to have Student Option available that can be leveraged by institutions that do not have full staff/faculty coverage on Office or that would like to provide their students with Office Professional Plus.

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