GitHub Education renewal added $100 credit but did not create Azure for Students subscription - possible bug?

Question

Hi,

I recently renewed my Azure for Students benefit through GitHub Education, and I believe there may be a bug or error in the renewal process.

What happened:

• I successfully renewed Azure for Students via GitHub Education Pack
• The renewal added $100 credit (valid until 26/05/2027) to my billing account
• However, no new 'Azure for Students' subscription was created
• Only 'Azure for Students Starter' remains active, which does not support Microsoft.Compute, Microsoft.Storage, or Microsoft.Network

Current state:

• Billing profile: <PII Removed>
• Available credit: $100 (visible in Education Hub)
• Active subscription: Azure for Students Starter only
• Previous Azure for Students subscriptions: Deleted (past 90-day window)

My concern:

The $100 credit was successfully applied to my billing account, which suggests the renewal was partially successful. However, the subscription that should have been created alongside the credit was never provisioned. This appears to be an incomplete renewal process rather than an eligibility issue.

Is this a known issue? And is there any way for the Azure team to provision a new Azure for Students subscription to match the credit that was already granted?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello Nevo Bias Restu Sangkane

Azure for Students and Azure for Students Starter are two completely separate offers with different service access levels. Azure for Students Starter only includes a limited set of services (App Service, Functions, Notification Hubs, MySQL, Application Insights, Azure DevOps Server) and does not support Microsoft.Compute, Microsoft.Storage, or Microsoft.Network. These two offers cannot be converted or upgraded from one to the other because they are provisioned independently.

Reference: About Azure for Students Starter

When you renew Azure for Students, the documented process requires you to sign up again for the offer it's not fully automatic. Microsoft sends a renewal reminder email near your 12-month anniversary, and you need to re-verify your student status and complete the sign-up to provision a new subscription.

Reference: Azure for Students FAQ – Renewal and About Azure for Students

In your case, the $100 credit was applied to your billing account via GitHub Education, but the Azure for Students subscription itself was not provisioned. This means the renewal was partially processed on the billing/credit side but the subscription creation step did not complete.

As a workaround:

Step 1 : Try completing the sign-up again via GitHub:

1. Sign out of the Azure portal completely.
2. Open an InPrivate/Incognito browser window.
3. Go to: https://signup.azure.com/studentverification?offerType=1
4. Select Sign in with GitHub (use your GitHub username, not your email).
5. In GitHub, confirm the email used for verification is set as your Primary email under Settings → Emails.
6. Then go to GitHub Education Pack, find the Azure section, and click to generate your verification code.
7. Back on the Azure sign-up page, choose Verification code and paste the code from GitHub.

Step 2 : If the subscription still doesn't appear, create a billing support request:

Since this is a subscription provisioning issue tied to your billing account, you'll need Azure Support to investigate.

1. Go to: Azure Portal → Help + Support
2. Click Create a support request.
3. Select Issue type: Billing → Problem type: Subscription Management.
4. In the description, mention:
   • Your billing profile ID: <PII Removed>
   • The $100 credit is visible in Education Hub (valid until 26/05/2027)
   • No Azure for Students subscription was provisioned alongside the credit
   • Previous Azure for Students subscriptions are deleted and past the 90-day window
5. Submit the request : Azure billing support is available at no cost.

Reference: How to create an Azure support request

The support team can manually review and provision the Azure for Students subscription to match the credit that was already granted to your billing account.

Hope this helps — please let us know if you need further assistance.

Thanks,
Suchitra.

Answer 2

This behavior is consistent with how Azure for Students and Azure for Students Starter are managed and cannot be fully diagnosed or fixed without Azure support accessing the billing and subscription backend.

From the available information:

• Azure for Students provides a $100 credit for 12 months and is implemented as a distinct subscription that grants access to all Azure products for educational, noncommercial use.
• Azure for Students Starter is a separate, more limited offer that only exposes a specific free tier set of services (App Service, Functions, Notification Hubs, Azure Database for MySQL, Application Insights, Azure DevOps) and does not include general-purpose resource providers like Microsoft.Compute, Microsoft.Storage, or Microsoft.Network.
• When the Azure for Students credit is exhausted or the 12‑month period ends, the subscription is canceled. There is a 90‑day window to upgrade to pay‑as‑you‑go; after that, deployed products are decommissioned and the subscription is no longer accessible.
• Azure for Students can be renewed after one year by signing up again on the Azure for Students site; renewal is not automatic and is handled as a new offer assignment.

Given that:

• The $100 sponsorship/credit is visible on the Education Hub / Sponsorships portal, but only an Azure for Students Starter subscription is present.
• Previous Azure for Students subscriptions are beyond the 90‑day window and deleted.

This indicates a mismatch between the sponsorship credit and the actual subscription object that should have been created or re‑created. That provisioning path is not something that can be corrected from the portal when the subscription itself is missing.

The only practical resolution path is to involve Azure billing/subscription support so they can:

1. Verify that the Azure for Students sponsorship/credit is correctly associated with the intended account and billing profile.
2. Confirm whether an Azure for Students subscription was attempted and failed provisioning, or was bound to a different tenant/account.
3. Either:
   • Manually provision or re‑provision an Azure for Students subscription tied to the existing $100 credit, or
   • Correct the sponsorship mapping and guide through re‑enrollment for Azure for Students.

To proceed:

1. Go to Help + support in the Azure portal and create a subscription management/billing support request, describing:
   • That the Azure for Students credit is visible in the Education Hub / Sponsorships portal.
   • That only an Azure for Students Starter subscription exists.
   • That previous Azure for Students subscriptions are deleted (beyond 90 days).
   • That the renewal was initiated via GitHub Education.
2. If the portal does not allow creating a ticket due to missing subscription, follow the documented guidance for creating a subscription management support request even when the subscription has not been created yet, and select the closest available subscription/billing context.

This scenario is not documented as a standard/expected flow; it requires direct support intervention to align the sponsorship credit with an active Azure for Students subscription.

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References:

• Azure for Students
• Frequently asked questions about Azure for Education
• Azure for Students Starter
• What is Azure for Students Starter?
• Frequently asked questions about the Azure Education Hub
• Startup support and troubleshooting