Will the Office 365 university subscription continue to work after I graduate?

I see your FAQ and raise you with this one <grin> :

https://www.msacademicverify.com/AVE/FAQ/Default.aspx?pid=26FD2679-84F3-4111-A0FE-340D5CF03032

in there it says <snip>

Q: How often does my academic status need to be verified?

A: Once a year. Or, we should say, once every 12 months from your last verification date.

</snip>

I find that answer troubling. It implies that once you graduate, the next time your annual verification roles around your remaining time is lost. So this "4 year" offer seems to be a little misleading.  The way I read it, if you buy at the end of your school term you will get only 1 year of use from your subscription.

I think the place to get a definitive answer is MS support. But good luck getting a straight answer. The FAQ page I gave you .

***************

Bad news. I just finished a chat with MS Office support. It took an hour and a half to extract the answer which is based on the FAQ answer.

The answer is “maybe”.

The short answer is, contrary to what the advertising says, the subscription is only good while you are a student and for at most 1 year after.  MS automatically verifies your academic status every year, so after you graduate, when your anniversary date rolls around your subscription will be cancelled. 

RIP OFF!

At the end of the conversation, there is a slight hope that the automatic renewal verification is simply a check to see if your EDU email address is still active. In that case, if the school allows you to continue to use your EDU email after graduation, you could continue to use Office 365 University.

For your edification, here is the whole chat conversation:

Debbie F:        6:52:01 AM 

Welcome to Answer Desk! How may I assist you today?

You:    6:52:47 AM 

Hi I have a question about the Office 365 University subscription terms.

Debbie F:        6:53:33 AM 

Hello there, Ron!

You:    6:53:41 AM 

The offer says the subscription is good for 4 years after you provide proof you are a student, after your "academic status is verified"....

This FAQ page expands on that:

https://www.msacademicverify.com/AVE/FAQ/Default.aspx?pid=26FD2679-84F3-4111-A0FE-340D5CF03032

It says quote

Q: How often does my academic status need to be verified?

A: Once a year. Or, we should say, once every 12 months from your last verification date.

Debbie F:        6:54:20 AM 

I understand that you have questions about Office 365 University subscription.

You:                6:55:14 AM 

So the question is. If I buy 365 university in my last year and it is verified then, what happens to the subscription one year later when I have to verify my academic status again an I have graduated?

Debbie F:        6:55:22 AM 

I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you however, you have reached technical support for Windows.

You:    6:55:45 AM 

well then forward me to Office support ...

Debbie F:        6:56:10 AM 

There's a special department that's trained primarily to support Office issues. Not to waste your time, I can provide you a direct number to that department to get quicker resolution towards your issue.

Office Support - 866-452-4755 M-F 5am-9pm Sa-Su 6am-3pm PST

You:    6:57:18 AM 

sorry, I used the chat line because I have a pay as you go phone that costs 25cents a minute. I have heard about 2 hour wait times on phone support. I NEED chat or email support!

Debbie F:        6:58:01 AM 

Canadian Head Office: (905) 568-0434

Customer Inquiries: (877) 568-2495

Microsoft TT/TDD: (905) 568-9641

Microsoft Order Centre: (800) 933-4750

You:    6:58:38 AM 

Those are phone numbers. That will not work for me.

Debbie F:        6:59:42 AM 

Let me go ahead and transfer this chat to our Office department. One moment, please.

You:    6:59:52 AM 

Thank you very much. <grin>

Hold on while I transfer your chat to 'Israel V'.

Hi, thanks for visiting Answer Desk. I'm Israel V.

Israel V:          7:00:36 AM 

Hi! How are you doing? How may I help you?

You:    7:00:41 AM 

Hi Isreal, did you get the whole prior conversation?

Israel V:          7:01:32 AM 

I'm checking on the conversation right now, give me a moment.

You:    7:01:57 AM 

no problem, I will be here ... <grin>

Israel V:          7:03:34 AM 

I see here you  have  an inquiry about Office 365 University?

You:    7:05:35 AM 

Yes, I have a question about the Office 365 University subscription terms.

The offer says the subscription is good for 4 years after you provide proof you are a student, after your "academic status is verified"....

This FAQ page expands on that: https://www.msacademicverify.com/AVE/FAQ/Default.aspx?pid=26FD2679-84F3-4111-A0FE-340D5CF03032 It says quote Q: How often does my academic status need to be verified? A: Once a year. Or, we should say, once every 12 months from your last verification date.

So the question is. If I buy 365 university in my last year and it is verified then, what happens to the subscription one year later when I have to verify my academic status again an I have graduated?

Israel V:          7:09:11 AM 

Good question, the verification will conduct one time only, just to make sure that the customer is really a legit student from a certain university , and it will last for four years or until the subscription ends.

You:    7:10:28 AM 

I would hope that is true. If it is true, then the FAQ has to be corrected because it gives a very different impression. Is your interpretation available online anywhere that I can see?

Israel V:          7:15:15 AM 

That is true, and that is what we are trained to give the details for our product. Once your Office 365 University is activated on your Microsoft Account with the confirmation that you are with the University.

The subscription will stay after 4 years.

You:    7:17:34 AM 

I need a link that contradicts the content in the FAQ. I provide support to people who are asking this question and they need to see something "official" from MS as confirmation. Right now all they see is that FAQ entry that says they will/could be "ripped off" after just one year of use.

So if I can point to them to a web page that says what you have just said, they will believe me.

Israel V:          7:19:29 AM 

Can you please send me the link again containing the FAQ?

You:    7:20:01 AM 

Sure here it is https://www.msacademicverify.com/AVE/FAQ/Default.aspx?pid=26FD2679-84F3-4111-A0FE-340D5CF03032

Israel V:          7:21:45 AM 

Thank you, I will check on this.

You:    7:22:18 AM 

OK, should I stay online for an answer or do you want to contact me later

Israel V:          7:22:36 AM 

Just stay on the line please.

You:    7:22:49 AM 

ok

Israel V:          7:29:11 AM 

Q: What does being verified mean?

A: Simply put, being verified means that the academic status of a user has been confirmed by the verification source (usually a school, organization or commercial student identity provider) selected by the user within the Academic Verification Engine. Each user has to be verified as a student or educator before taking advantage of the education product offers in this site. We verify student status the first time they visit, and then once a year thereafter.

You:    7:31:06 AM 

The problem I have is with the last line “We verify student status the first time they visit, and then once a year thereafter.”

Israel V:          7:32:36 AM 

The verification will be automatic, it will send email to your school just to check that you are still associated with them.

Same as what I have said that no need for you to update since the email will go directly to your school for the update.

You:    7:34:22 AM 

YES, that is precisely the problem. Office 365/2013 just came out. A student who is graduating this year or next year buys it. After they graduate they will no longer be students and what you are saying is that the subscription will be automatically cancelled before the 4 year term is up because they are no longer students. That is FALSE ADVERTISING!

Israel V:          7:43:41 AM 

Ron you have a very interesting question which the first time I have encountered, to better answer your question is for you to verify the school policy on how long they will keep your account as an active student, and for the Product title itself it's a University, it's for student and I get your point for the graduating issue, but it's with school's policy that will provide you the answer.

You:    7:48:33 AM 

I have encountered this question several times. I finally decided to try and get official clarification. Lets face it, no school is going to tell MS a former student is still a student (for up to 3 years) just to allow the student to continue to use Office University. THAT would be a VIOLATION of their agreement with MS. Your interpretation of the license terms means that the price of Office 365 University has increased MANY times compared to the Office 2010 Academic Offer which was US$100 for a license with no time limit.

Israel V:          7:57:43 AM 

Ron, this is a fact that there will be administrator on your school that will take care of your school account, now they will be the one who will take charge as to when your account is still valid with them, and each school I believe that they have their own policy with school accounts which they can only answer that.

You:    7:59:44 AM 

OK, that is an interesting twist. Do you mean that the "academic verification question" is "is this school email account still valid" rather than is this person still a paying student (or paid staff)?

Israel V           8:06:53 AM 

Ron, an honest answer is that I don't know the content of the email verification since it should have privacy as to the administrator will be the one who can read and will reply for the verification. So if you want that question be answered your school office is the appropriate to contact with that, there is so called school policy right.

You:    8:08:03 AM 

OK. Thanks for you help. Even though I don’t like it, I have my answer. Office 365 University is good while you are in school and for no more than 1 year after you graduate no matter how much time remains in the 4 year subscription.

No, I don't think you should have to buy it twice. BUT, I do think you will have to find some way of getting MS to update your EDU address.  Good luck with that. Apparently MS does not provide that sort of service easily.

If you read through the conversation I posted, I don't have a definitive answer about your question, so I'd suggest you wait and see if MS cancels your college subscription before trying to get them to change the email address. Maybe by then MS will have improved the process.  The thing is, if you get lucky, MS will continue to allow you to use the college purchase for the full 4 years. In that case, at the end of the subscription, or close to the end of your time at university you could get a new subscription on your university address, in theory it would be good for 4 more years.

I have a Question, since you seem to get info from MS chat support (I have tried, lol)

Basically, I am going to a cc this year (1 year only) and then transferring to a university next year (for 3 years). Do i have to buy the subscription twice (once for each school)? Or can i just change my .edu email?

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Office Community and providing us an opportunity to assist you.

As per the following Microsoft article, you can continue to use Office 365 University as it is a four year subscription:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/office-frequently-asked-questions-FX102926087.aspx

Hope the above information helps.

Thank You.