Microsoft Launches Office 365 University for College Students In India

Internet major Microsoft on Tuesday launched its Office 365 University in India for both full-time and part-time university students.

The Office 365 University, which aims the top universities and education centers in India, can be purchased online with an affordable subscription offer. The students of accredited colleges and universities across India have to pay ₹4,199 to purchase the Office 365 University for 4-year subscription which will give them access to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access along with 20 GB SkyDrive storage and default save to SkyDrive. The product is also available to faculty members of accredited colleges and universities.

"The special pricing for students will help provide them opportunities and empower them to develop the necessary skills to be successful in the fast-paced campus environment, making them future-ready as they join the workforce of tomorrow," said Ramkumar Pichai, general manager, Microsoft Office Division, Microsoft India.

According to Microsoft, the online purchase of the Office 365 will avoid misuse of the product and students can get the product by registering online. The company is said to have the record of all accredited institutions in the country and this would make the verification easy. University students can register online at www.office.com/verify to verify their eligibility or they can get the manual verification done by sending the scanned documents to Microsoft.

"We have a whole list of education institutes in India and, therefore, identifying students from colleges would be easy. In case a student is not able to register online, he/she can send us a scanned copy of the identity card or report card and within 72 hours, he/she would get access to Office 365," said Sukhvinder Ahuja, director (cloud and office), Microsoft India as quoted by the Business Standards.