Student Subscription

Question

Hey there,

I'm using Student Azure Server from Sep 2025 (Approx 8 months), which gave me 100$ Credits for free.

I have few questions it will be great if anyone can help me out:

1. I just checked my past 12 months costing and it is Rs 8491 (which is approx 100$ of the time i got credits), so when can i assume my subscription will end? and if it ends, what will happen, like what will i able to do or not?
2. How can i renew my Azure Student Subscription as im still a student... and when?
   3. Above is my Azure usages for all time... Now how can i reduce my cost for upcoming time, like im using free server for 1 vm and for other im using simple 4 ram server, (and i keep shutdown both of them mostly). I use Standard SSD instead of premium but still to much cost.
   4. Any suggestions or tips

Thanks

Answer 1

Hello Harsh Khandal

Please have a look into below information for your queries:

1. When Will Your Subscription End?

Your Azure for Students subscription provides $100 in credit valid for 12 months from your sign-up date whichever runs out first (credit or time) will disable your subscription.

Looking at your Cost Analysis, your accumulated cost is already ₹8,491.23 and the forecast is ₹9,800.74, which means you're very close to exhausting your $100 credit. Your subscription will most likely get disabled before your 12-month anniversary (September 2026) once the remaining credit reaches zero.

You can check your exact remaining credit anytime by signing in to the Microsoft Azure Sponsorships portal using your Azure for Students account credentials.

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/azurestudents-subscription-disabled

2. What Happens When the Credit Runs Out?

Once your $100 credit is exhausted:

• Azure disables your subscription and all services your VMs, storage, databases, and other resources will become inaccessible.
• Your resources are not deleted immediately, but they remain in a disabled/suspended state.
• To continue using Azure services after this, you would need to upgrade to a Pay-As-You-Go subscription by contacting https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Support/HelpAndSupportBlade. After upgrading, you'll only be charged for usage beyond the free service limits.

3. How to Renew Your Azure for Students Subscription:

Yes, you can renew Azure for Students as long as you're still an eligible full-time student at an accredited institution. Here's how it works:

• When: You can renew at the end of your 12-month period. Microsoft will send you reminder emails approximately 30 days before your anniversary.
• How: Visit the Azure for Students sign-up page and re-verify your student status using your institution email. Upon successful renewal, you'll receive a fresh $100 credit for another 12 months.
• Important: Unused credit from the previous period does not carry over. Each renewal gives a fresh $100.

Note: If your credit runs out before your 12-month anniversary, you cannot renew early. In that case, you'd need to either upgrade to Pay-As-You-Go to keep your resources running, or wait until your anniversary date to renew.

Reference:

• Azure for Students FAQ – What happens after I use my $100 credit or I'm at the end of 12 months?
• About the Azure for Students program

4. Tips to Reduce Your Costs Going Forward: Based on your Cost Analysis screenshot, here are the areas where you can save the most:

Storage (₹3,966.96 — largest cost item): Storage charges apply 24/7 regardless of whether your VMs are running or shut down. To reduce this:

• Go to Portal → Disks and filter by "Unattached" — delete any orphaned disks from old or deleted VMs.
• If you're using Standard SSD, consider downgrading to Standard HDD for non-critical/student workloads — it's significantly cheaper.
• Reduce disk size where possible (e.g., if your OS disk is 128 GB but you only use 30 GB, recreate with a smaller disk tier).
• Delete any old disk snapshots you no longer need.

Virtual Network (₹3,431.09 — second largest): This is unusually high for a student workload. The most common causes are:

• Standard SKU Public IP addresses — these are charged even when VMs are deallocated.
• Go to Portal → Public IP addresses and delete any that are not actively needed.
• VPN Gateway or NAT Gateway — these are expensive resources. If you deployed one, delete it if it's not essential.

Virtual Machines (₹1,045.10 — well managed): Your shutdown habit is clearly helping here. A few additional tips:

• Always Stop (Deallocate) VMs from the Azure Portal — shutting down from inside the OS ("Stopped" state) still incurs compute charges.
• Set up Auto-Shutdown schedules: Go to VM → Auto-shutdown in the portal.
• Azure for Students includes 750 free hours/month of B1s Linux and B1s Windows VMs — make sure your free-tier VM is sized as B1s to take full advantage of this.

Clean Up Unused Resource Groups: Your screenshot shows multiple resource groups (temp_res, hackjklu_group, poornima, resources-n8n). If any of these contain resources from old projects or hackathons that you no longer need, delete the entire resource group this removes all associated resources and stops all related charges at once.

Reference: Best practices for virtual machine cost optimization.

I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, feel free to ask. If this answer addresses your concern, please consider Accepting it and Upvoting so it can benefit others in the community.

Thanks,

Suchitra.

Answer 2

1. When the current Azure for Students subscription ends and what happens

Azure for Students provides:

• $100 credit
• Valid for up to 12 months from signup

From the context:

• If the $100 credit is exhausted before 12 months and the subscription is not upgraded, the subscription is canceled and deployed products are decommissioned.
• If 12 months pass, the offer period ends. If still a student, the offer can be renewed; otherwise, the subscription can be upgraded to pay‑as‑you‑go.

So:

• The subscription lifetime is tied to 12 months from the signup date, not to the exact local‑currency amount shown in Cost Management.
• After the credit is used or the 12 months end (whichever comes first):
  • If not renewed or upgraded, the Azure for Students subscription is canceled.
  • Deployed resources are decommissioned and can no longer be accessed.
  • There is a 90‑day window from the end of the free subscription to upgrade to pay‑as‑you‑go if continued use is desired.

To see remaining credit and the credit expiration date, use the Microsoft Azure Sponsorships portal as described in the context.

2. How and when to renew Azure for Students

From the context:

• Azure for Students can be renewed after one year if still an active student.
• Shortly before the 12‑month anniversary, reminder emails are sent with renewal information.
• To renew, sign up again for the offer on the Azure for Students website while still eligible (full‑time student at an accredited institution and able to verify academic status with the institution email address).

If the 12‑month period ends and student status is still valid:

• Sign up again for Azure for Students to receive a new 12‑month period and another $100 credit.

If student status is no longer valid:

• Renewal is not possible; instead, upgrade the existing subscription to a pay‑as‑you‑go subscription in the Azure portal to keep using Azure services.

3. Reducing cost going forward

The context provides general cost‑management guidance for Azure for Students:

• Track usage and costs:
  • Use the Azure Education Hub Overview page to monitor monthly and aggregate usage and see the countdown to the next renewal.
  • Use View cost details to open Microsoft Cost Management and analyze which services (VMs, storage, networking) are consuming the most credit.
  • Use the Azure Sponsorships portal to see remaining credit and usage by service.
• Create budgets and alerts:
  • In Cost Management, create budgets on the Azure for Students subscription so that alerts are triggered when spending approaches thresholds (for example, 50%, 75%, 90% of the $100 credit). This helps avoid unexpected depletion of credit.
• VM and storage‑related considerations (based on the context’s general guidance):
  • Any usage beyond the included free services and quantities is deducted from the $100 credit.
  • Keeping VMs stopped reduces compute charges, but associated storage (OS disks, data disks, snapshots) and some networking resources still incur charges while allocated.
  • To reduce storage‑driven cost, use Cost Management’s service breakdown (Storage, Virtual Machines, Virtual Network, etc.) to identify which disks or storage accounts are consuming the most credit and consider deleting unused disks, snapshots, or data volumes that are no longer needed.

4. Practical tips summarized

• Regularly review usage and cost in:
  • Azure Education Hub (Overview and View cost details)
  • Microsoft Cost Management (cost analysis by service, resource group, and region)
  • Azure Sponsorships portal (remaining credit and expiration date)
• Set budgets and alerts in Cost Management for the Azure for Students subscription.
• Remove or downsize unused resources (especially storage and VMs) identified in Cost Management.
• Plan for the end of the 12‑month period:
  • If still a student, renew Azure for Students via the offer page when eligible.
  • Otherwise, upgrade to pay‑as‑you‑go within 90 days if continued access to resources is required.

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References:

• Why is my Azure for Students subscription disabled and how do I reactivate it?
• Frequently asked questions about Azure for Education
• Frequently asked questions about the Azure Education Hub
• Azure for Students
• Track usage and create budgets in Azure for Students