FAQ

Finding the Right Volume Licensing Program

QUESTION: ANSWER:

Is my institution eligible to participate in a Microsoft Volume Licensing for Academic program?

Regions have different academic eligibility requirements based on the local laws and regulations. If your institution is in the United States, please refer to www.microsoft.com/education/eligible.mspx for eligibility information. For other regions, please check with your regional Microsoft subsidiary or go towww.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/education/eligibility

What products can I get through the Volume Licensing for Academic programs?

The products available depend on the licensing program you choose. Each program offers a wide selection of Microsoft products. Please refer to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Product List at www.microsoft.com/licensing/userights/ for a current list of available products.

How does the Campus Agreement or School Agreement Student Option work?

With the Student Option, you can license selected products for students to use on their personal or institution-owned computers provided for a student’s exclusive use (for example, a laptop checked out to a student for the school year).

Can my institution choose the Campus Agreement or School Agreement Student Option without participating in the institutional program?

Yes. With a Campus or School Agreement, you can participate in the Student Option without participating in the institutional program for faculty and staff.

How can I get licensed products for students with a Select Plus for Academic or Select License for Academic agreement?

If you are a Select License for Academic customer, you can participate by starting a special Student Select Enrollment under your Academic Select Agreement. Orders for Student Select licenses and corresponding individual media are placed with your Large Account Reseller (LAR) using your Student Select Enrollment number.

If you are a Select Plus for Academic customer, you can participate by completing an Affi liate Registration Form for students under your Select Plus for Academic agreement. Orders for Student Select Plus licenses and corresponding individual media are placed with your Large Account Reseller (LAR) using your Select Plus customer number.

Visit www.microsoft.com/education/studentselect.mspx to learn more.

Under the Campus Agreement or School Agreement, will new employees or computers added during the year be licensed under my agreement?

Yes. The new employees or computers are automatically licensed for the software for the remainder of the current subscription year. A very convenient feature of the subscription licensing programs is that you only need to count your employees or computers once a year. When it’s time to submit the upcoming year’s order, you need to include these new employees or computers in your count.

Do I have to license the same products for my students, staff, and faculty with a Campus Agreement or School Agreement?

No. You may choose any of the Campus Agreement or School Agreement application, system, or CAL products for your students through the Student Option, and they do not have to match your faculty and staff selections if you also have an institutional enrollment.

Does my institution have to purchase fi ve or more copies of the same product to be eligible to purchase through Open License for Academic?

No. You may combine products to meet the fi ve-license minimum requirement for the fi rst order. A license with optional Software Assurance counts as two licenses toward the fi ve-license minimum.

How do I sign up for a Microsoft Volume Licensing for Academic program?

To sign up for a Microsoft Volume Licensing for Academic program or for pricing, please contact an Authorized Education Reseller (AER) or local reseller in your region. To fi nd an AER in the United States or Canada, visit www.microsoft.com/education/AERFind.mspx. For other regions, go to www.microsoft.com/licensing/index/worldwide.mspx to locate your regional Microsoft Volume Licensing Web site.

Can my institution participate in more than one Microsoft Volume Licensing for Academic program?

Yes, your institution can participate in more than one Microsoft Volume Licensing for Academic program based on your needs. For instance, a university that prefers to subscribe to temporary licenses for their desktop products, and prefers to purchase perpetual licenses for their server products, may license their desktops through a Campus Agreement and purchase server licenses through Select Plus for Academic.

Microsoft®

Academic Licensing

Online Resources

Review the defi nition of Qualifi ed Education User at www.microsoft.com/education/eligible.mspx (US and Canada)www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/education/eligibility (Rest of the World)

Find out more about Microsoft’s Academic Licensing programs and Microsoft Authorized Education Resellers at www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/education/default.mspx

Review the available products under Microsoft’s Academic Licensing programs at www.microsoft.com/licensing/userights

Get information on Software Assurance atwww.microsoft.com/education/softwareassurance.mspx

For information on the MSDN AA departmental membership for Campus Agreement customers, go to msdn.microsoft.com/academic

For information on the MSDN AA High School membership for School Agreement customers, go to msdn.microsoft.com/academic/program/highschool/default.aspx

Simple, Flexible and Affordable Licensing for Educational Institutions

MICROSOFT VOLUME LICENSING FOR ACADEMIC CUSTOMERS

Volume Licensing Comparison Chart for Academic Customers

Transactional Licensing

With Microsoft’s transactional Volume Licensing programs, you can get transactional or perpetual licenses (meaning your institution owns the licenses) and avoid the costs and packaging of retail software. Microsoft has three transactional Volume Licensing programs for education customers: Select Plus for Academic, Select License for Academic, and Open License for Academic.

Select Plus for AcademicSelect Plus for Academic is the newest transactional program for medium and large institutions with approximately 250 or more PCs. Select Plus for Academic offers the advantages of a non-expiring agreement, the fl exibility to acquire licenses as needed, automatic price tiering, a single agreement and Lead Affi liate customer ID to streamline account management across multiple affi liates, student licensing through Student Select Plus, and the ability to add value with a full 36 months of Software Assurance.

Select License for AcademicSelect License for Academic provides volume licensing for medium and large institutions with approximately 250 or more PCs that are able to forecast their license needs over a three-year period. Each licensed product within Select License for Academic has an assigned point value, which allows your institution to establish a special academic price level by meeting a minimum forecast of license acquisitions.

With Select License for Academic, you can add Software Assurance to an individual license, or you can select Software Assurance Membership (SAM) for an entire pool of products. You can also pass on the savings of Select License for Academic to your students by including a Student Select enrollment with your Select License for Academic agreement.

Special benefi ts of Select Plus for Academic and Select License for Academic include:

Simple license acquisitions. Acquire the new licenses you need, when you need them.

Microsoft® Academic Licensing is for education customers that purchase multiple copies of a Microsoft licensed product and manage it across multiple desktop PCs. Purchasing through the Microsoft Volume Licensing programs is a great way to help reduce your total cost of ownership (TCO).Microsoft offers fi ve different Volume Licensing programs for educational institutions:

• Microsoft Campus Agreement • Microsoft School Agreement • Microsoft Select Plus for Academic • Microsoft Select License for Academic • Microsoft Open License for Academic The program that is best for your institution depends on its type, size, and how you want to acquire the licensed product. You have the option to own the product licenses through a “transactional” (or “perpetual”) program or to subscribe to licenses only during the agreement term through an annual “subscription” program.

PROGRAM NAMEProgram name Campus Agreement School Agreement Open License for

AcademicSelect License for

AcademicSelect Plus for

Academic

Customer profi le

Higher education institutions looking for a simple, fl exible subscription licensing agreement

K-12 schools and districts and preschools looking for a simple, fl exible subscription licensing agreement

Academic institutions of any size that want easy, one-time transactions and the fl exibility of acquiring licenses in small quantities

Medium-to-large institutions with approximately 250 or more desktop PCs and the ability to forecast license acquisitions

Medium to large institutions with approximately 250 or more desktop PCs with multiple purchasing affi liates

Type of program

Subscription Subscription Transactional Transactional Transactional

Agreement term

The master Campus Agreement and School Agreement has no expiration date

The master Campus Agreement and School Agreement has no expiration date

Two years from the time of initial order

Three years with the option to renew for one or three additional years

No specifi c expiration date

Campus subscription enrollment designates a one- or three-year licensed period

School subscription enrollment designates a one- or three-year licensed period

Software orders are placed annually or as needed during the licensed period

Software orders are placed annually or as needed during the licensed period

Software Assurance benefi ts

Software Assurance Membership included, which provides product updates and upgrades, Home Use Program, support resources and tools, Microsoft E-Learning courses, and more

Software Assurance Membership included, which provides product updates and upgrades, Home Use Program, support resources and tools, Microsoft E-Learning courses, and more

Includes Software Assurance with license purchases and product upgrades released during the agreement term and E-Learning courses

Include Software Assurance with individual license purchases and receive product upgrades released during the agreement term and Microsoft E-Learning courses

Include Software Assurance Membership on a product pool and receive additional benefi ts

Include Software Assurance with individual license purchases and receive product upgrades released during the agreement term and Microsoft E-Learning courses

Include Software Assurance Membership on a product pool and receive additional benefi ts

Coverage term is 36 months, regardless of purchase timing

Student licensing

Student Option licenses all students to use products on their personal computer

Student Option licenses a specifi c number of students to use products on their personal computer

Not currently available Student licenses available through Student Select

Student licenses available through Student Select Plus

How to buy (May vary in some regions)

Through all Authorized Education Resellers (AERs) in most regions. Check with your reseller of choice

Through all Authorized Education Resellers (AERs) in most regions. Check with your reseller of choice

Through all Authorized Education Resellers (AERs)

Through all Authorized Education Resellers or Large Account Resellers (LARs)

Through all Authorized Education Large Account Resellers (LARs)

Subscription Licensing

With subscription licensing programs, you can run a selection of licensed products, and any upgrades or downgrades of those products, for a designated term. For application, system, and Client Access License (CAL) products, even if your number of computers or users grows, you can be fully licensed during your program’s enrollment term by reporting the updated number annually. Microsoft has two subscription licensing programs for education customers: Campus Agreement and School Agreement.

Both programs allow you to run your licensed products for a specifi ed period. You can choose whether you have a one-year or three-year licensed period. And your temporary licenses let you run upgrades and downgrades of the licensed products throughout the licensed period.

Microsoft Campus AgreementThe Campus Agreement program is a simple, subscription-based way for higher education institutions to get licensed products using an annual count of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees—both faculty and staff. The agreement is fl exible with a streamlined subscription process, and you’ll like how easy it is to count people instead of computers. This agreement also makes it easy to license your entire institution or just a single department with all the PCs covered by counting FTE employees just once per year.

Microsoft School AgreementThe School Agreement program provides subscription-based Volume Licensing for K-12 schools and preschools based on a convenient annual count of eligible PCs. Because counting desktop PCs once a year is so simple, the School Agreement makes it easy for you to license all of your PCs—whether for just one school or for an entire district.

The Student Option When you take advantage of the Campus or School Agreement Student Option, you can license your students to use a wide selection of great Microsoft products on their own personal computers or on institution- or school-owned computers that are for the students’ exclusive use (e.g., a laptop checked out to a student for the school year). They can be enrolled separately from your faculty and staff.

Benefi ts of Campus Agreement and School Agreement Subscription Licensing:

Easy compliance. Because all of your institution’s PCs and users are covered throughout the subscription term, it’s easy to ensure that your institution is fully licensed to use the products you’ve selected.

Low administration. You won’t need to track licenses for individual licensed products on every computer. This makes it easier to manage software assets, especially in a decentralized environment.

Current technology. Run the most current versions of the licensed products that are in your agreement. Your institution will also automatically get media for licensed products that are upgraded during your agreement term.

Simple budgeting and purchasing. One annual payment covers all of the licensed products you’ve selected for the year. However, you can also add new products to an order after your initial annual software order at a pro-rated price based on the number of months remaining in your term, with a minimum six-month rate.

Excellent value. Your total cost of software ownership is reduced by standardizing on a platform of licensed products. This can help increase productivity and access to current technology. You also get the benefi ts of a Software Assurance Membership and one complimentary MSDN Academic Alliance (MSDN AA) departmental membership (Campus Agreement) or MSDN AA High School membership (School Agreement).

Software Assurance

Software Assurance is a comprehensive maintenance offering that helps you get the most out of your software investment. It combines the latest software with support, services, training, and IT tools that can help you deploy, manage, and migrate software. Software Assurance is included in the Campus Agreement and School Agreement, and you can get it as an option through Open License for Academic, Select License for Academic, and Select Plus for Academic.

To learn more about Software Assurance benefi ts for education, go to www.microsoft.com/education/SoftwareAssurance.mspx or talk with your reseller.

Additional Campus and School Agreement Benefi ts:

Home Use Program (HUP) Give your faculty and staff access to Microsoft licensed products for their personal or work-related use at home.

MSDN® AA MembershipGet an annual complimentary MSDN AA membership when you enroll in the Campus or School Agreement program.

Evaluation RightsAccess software for evaluation purposes for up to 60 days to “try before you buy.”

Product Edition Step-ups If you want to step-up to a higher edition of one of your licensed products (for instance, from the Standard Edition to the Enterprise Edition) you can do so at any time and only pay the difference in the cost between the two editions.

Automatic Qualifi cation for Select Plus for AcademicWhen you have an active Campus or School Agreement, you also qualify to participate in Select Plus for Academic without the need to meet any minimum purchase requirements.

Flexibility. You acquire and pay for licensed products and Software Assurance, a comprehensive maintenance program, as you need them.

Software for training purposes. You may use up to 20 copies of most Microsoft licensed products for evaluation and training.

Investment value. Through Software Assurance, you can easily stay current and receive even more benefi ts such as support resources, tools, and Microsoft E-Learning courses.

Open License for AcademicOpen License for Academic is a fl exible, cost-effective way for your school or college of any size to purchase product licenses, starting with as few as fi ve licenses. Just determine the number of software licenses your institution needs and order through an Authorized Education Reseller (AER). After getting the licenses, you can order media from a Microsoft-approved fulfi llment source. License confi rmations are distributed electronically and posted on a password-protected Internet site.

Exceptional benefi ts include:

Simple license transactions. Open License for Academic is easy to understand and administer with simple, clear terms for getting your software licenses.

Flexibility. This program is fl exible enough for many varied institutions, and you can choose from a wide selection of Microsoft’s great products. After you order your fi rst fi ve or more licenses, you have the benefi t of ordering only what your institution needs, saving you money and time.

Convenience. You can order Microsoft licensed products through Open License for Academic from any AER or other authorized reseller in your region.

Easy compliance. You can get license confi rmation information and purchase history electronically using the online eOpen tool.