Microsoft has various editions that include the core products you will need (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). These editions include: Home and Student, Home and Business, Standard, Professional, Professional Plus, and Professional Academic.

Some Office 365 subscription plans provide access to a desktop Office suite which includes the most current versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If you choose to use Office 365 as your primary resource, then please make sure that you obtain a subscription plan which includes access to the desktop applications.

Several options available to students are discussed below:

Option 1: Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Office Mobile are available at no cost to SJSU students. Visit Microsoft Office 365 Portal. You can access the Office 365 Portal with your SJSU Email address and SJSUOne Password as long as you are an enrolled student.

The Microsoft Student Advantage program gives you free access to Office 365 while you are actively a student at SJSU, including access to the Office Standard desktop applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Upon graduation or de-matriculation, you will no longer be entitled to use Office 365 through the Student Advantage program. At such time, the Office desktop applications may enter a reduced-functionality mode, and your access to the Office Online Web applications, as well as SkyDrive cloud storage, will be discontinued.

Consequently, please be aware that once you graduate or de-matriculate, you will be required to discontinue your use of Office 365 through the Student Advantage plan. In order to continue using Office, you would need to either purchase a regular subscription to Office 365, or you would need to purchase a license for Office 2013. The former option requires annual renewal, while the latter option will give you a permanent license for Office 2013, which will allow you to use the software through April 15th 2023. 

Option 2: Students may purchase Office 2019 at a discounted rate through one of many online academic resellers:

• Online vendors through which you can purchase Microsoft Office at academic pricing. (This list is provided as a convenience only; there are other educational pricing vendors.):
  • Creation Engine [Creation Engine purchases can be made by any SJSU student residing in the United States.]
  • Academic Superstore
  • Genesis
  • JourneyEd
  • Student Discounts
  • Microsoft