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Artificial Intelligence in schools has been a topic of controversy. On one hand, some tools can help with completing heaps of assignments. On the other hand, some go too far and help students cheat, which has left university professors puzzled. If you are ready to incorporate AI into your studies responsibly, many companies offer special back-to-school deals on their tools.
Universities like Boise State, Wake Forest, and San Diego State are using tools like Google’s NotebookLM and Gemini to help both students and faculty take more efficient notes and create more optimized lesson plans. As AI is becoming increasingly important, many prestigious universities, like Ohio University, have approved lists of AI tools for student use, along with their own generative AI models specifically designed for students.
Most AI services also have free tiers. They may not be as powerful as professional models, but if you need help with a math problem, the free tier can usually assist you.
Google Gemini
Google is working hard to attract university students away from ChatGPT. To do this, Google has recently announced offering the Google AI Pro Plan for free to university students for an entire year. Normally priced at $19.99 per month, this plan unlocks access to Google’s most popular AI tools. Starting on August 6th, university students aged 18 and over can sign up for free, and this offer is not limited to the United States.
The Google AI Pro Plan includes:
– Expanded access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, the company’s latest AI chatbot model.
– Trial of Google’s deep search model
– NotebookLM, which can create study guides, podcasts, and other content on specific topics.
– Veo 3, Google’s AI video creator
– Jules, Google’s coding assistant
It’s quite a generous offer. The highlights of Gemini include using the chatbot to help with assignments and Google’s NotebookLM, which is one of the most underrated AI tools available in 2025. It can help summarize documents and add them to your notes, and you can speak to it and ask it questions about the material. If you accept Google’s offer, it’s a good idea to set a reminder in your calendar to cancel after a year because you will be charged once the trial period ends, and a year is a long time to remember.
Sign up for Google Gemini.
Grammarly
Grammarly offers a discount for students, although it can be a bit tricky to find on the brand’s website. According to Grammarly, they offer a 40% discount to students, educators (from elementary school to higher education), and various other groups. To get it, you’ll need to use SheerID, which checks your name with your university’s Registrar’s Office to verify that you are a student before giving you the discount. Once done, you’ll get your promo code. Enter it and you’re all set.
It’s a useful tool for students. The grammar and punctuation check can help prevent trivial errors from creeping into essays and reports, while the brand’s plagiarism check can help keep students honest. Grammarly’s AI part can also help by summarizing notes and providing feedback on your writing. Since there is a lot of writing in college, it’s a good first choice.
Adobe
For students in creative fields, Adobe has long been student- and educator-friendly, although the company’s generosity has fluctuated over the years. In any case, for 2025, Adobe offers a 57% discount. You can get over 20 Adobe tools and access to Creative Cloud for $29.99 per month, instead of $69.99 per month. Some colleges may even offer some apps, like Photoshop, for free as part of the curriculum. You’ll need to contact your school to find out the details.
Adobe has spent most of the past two or three years integrating AI into its existing products. Photoshop has many AI tools, as do other tools like Lightroom and Acrobat. There is also Adobe Firefly, which is a generative AI model developed by Adobe that you can use to generate various things. Adobe’s AI implementation is quite nice because it works within existing tools that students are likely to use professionally as well.
Otter.ai
Otter.ai is primarily marketed as a business solution, but it also has special pricing for students. According to the company’s help center, discounted plans are available on Otter.ai Pro’s monthly and annual plans. They should be available for any non-profit educational institution, accredited college, and most school districts. The discount is 20%, which can significantly reduce the cost of the plan, especially if you opt for the whole year, which already discounts the monthly price. Click the link above for instructions on how to get it.
For the most part, Otter.ai is marketed as a business solution for collaborating with colleagues, recording and summarizing meetings, and taking notes during those meetings. However, all of this is also applicable in the educational space, especially if you are taking courses with many lectures. Otter.ai can listen to those lectures, summarize them, and help you take notes so you can study more effectively.
Notion AI offers discounts for students, although getting them is quite tricky. Eligible students can get a 50% discount on Notion AI with the correct addition, but based on stories I’ve read, it seems this can easily be confused with adding another extension that cancels out the discount. So, even though it’s available, I recommend reaching out to customer support to help you apply the discount so things don’t get complicated.
Notion AI is very similar to Otter.ai in the sense that it can be situational for how useful it is in an educational context. It primarily functions as a work assistant where you input data and the AI assistant helps you summarize, organize, and remember everything. You can find a full list of features on the Notion AI website. There’s some interesting stuff there, and if Notion is on your radar, the 50% discount is quite excellent.
Microsoft 365 (including Copilot)
When it comes to student discounts, Microsoft has long been one of the best options. Its Office 365 subscription offers Office apps with a 50% discount that isn’t hard to obtain. Turns out you can get Copilot for the same discount. Once verified, you can get three months of complimentary Microsoft 365 Personal, which includes Copilot. After that, students can continue to get a 50% discount. The free part isn’t available for students outside the US, but those students may still be eligible for the 50% discount.
You already know what Microsoft offers here. Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, along with 1TB of cloud storage and more. For Copilot, Microsoft states that Copilot is integrated into many of its productivity apps, and you gain access to Copilot itself, although not in its full Copilot Pro plans capacity. The combination of AI and productivity is a powerful combo for students, and 50% off is a significant discount.
Does OpenAI offer ChatGPT deals for college students?
In the past, OpenAI has offered free access to ChatGPT subscriptions for college students, but that discount is no longer available. However, OpenAI directly collaborates with some universities to offer college students access to ChatGPT. Additionally, OpenAI has recently released its most advanced model ever, GPT-5, and it’s currently free to use for everyone. You can also check out ChatGPT’s new “study mode” tool.
Effective use of artificial intelligence
Sometimes it’s not what you have but how you use it, and artificial intelligence certainly falls into that category. When using AI for educational purposes, it’s not much different from using it for work. If you’re taking courses where lectures are scarce, you probably don’t need Otter.ai. Check if your school uses Google for Education, you probably don’t need the personal Microsoft 365 plan. Make sure to spend your money effectively and only get the AI tools you truly need.
Topics
Artificial Intelligence
Google Gemini
