College students have it made when it comes to saving money – here are the BEST college student discounts – most of which just required an ID or email! This list includes electronic discounts (including from the Apple store), entertainment, food, and gym and fitness discounts.
As a college student, I always looked for the best deals and discounts. Fortunately, tons of discounts are available for students — from clothing to food to electronics and entertainment.
I’ve searched the Internet for the past few days, trying to find all the discounts available for students, to compile this list. Let me know if I missed anything.
- Student Discounts on Computers and Software
- Student Movie Theater Discounts
- Student Entertainment Deals
- College Student Cell Phone Discounts
- Gyms with Student Discounts
- Miscellaneous Student Discounts
- Stores that Offer Student Discounts
- Restaurants and Student Discounts
- College Student Discounts for Travel
- Online Stores with Student Discounts
- How do companies verify student status?
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Student Discounts on Computers and Software
- Dell – Save up to 30% on select items; often have other promotions going on
- Apple – Various discounts on Apple products, depending on what you buy. Apple college discounts typically require a college email address – sometimes, you can go through our college’s bookstore to get discounted products, too.
- Microsoft – Deals on software, electronics, and more Internet Security
- HP Instant Ink – I WISH I had this as a student! You do have to have an eligible HP printer (you can see the full list here). , but it can save you SO much money. You sign up for a monthly plan (starting at $1.49 a month – NO commitment), and then you get ink sent to you before you need it, based on how many pages you print enough. Even better – if you don’t print the pages you thought you would, it rolls over to the next month. You can see the savings on the HP Instant Ink page, but it’s crazy. Ink cartridges can be pricey, which can help substantially if you have a tight budget. You can even get your first month free!
- AVG – Great free option – does bog down computer quite a bit I’ve found.
- Check with your university. My alma mater offered free Internet security for students, so yours might be able to do so!
- Internet Provider — if you live in Off-campus housing, and you have to provide your own Internet, your provider may include security. CenturyLink gives its customers free Norton Anti-virus.
- Acronis Backup Software – I think quality backup software is CRUCIAL, especially when you are in college. Acronis is the best of the best, and as of right now, they are having some killer deals. Check them out here – it’s one of the best investments you will make.
- Adobe Creative Cloud (includes Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, etc.) is available for 19.99 for students and educators. Other products are likely available through your school. The whole Adobe suite was available at BYU for super, super inexpensive.
- Lenovo offers great discounts on high-quality laptops. Currently, they will give you an additional 5% off your laptop purchase with a valid student ID.
- Academic Superstore – Academic versions of software at discounted rates
- Sony Student Discount – Staff, and students can save up to 10%. Sony offers a program called “SONYEDU” For college students and faculty. After you verify your identity, you will receive an exclusive, one-time-only rebate. YOu will also receive special offers and emails.
- Adorama Student Discount – Adorama is a camera/video company. They offer a great student discount program to help you get gear for classes or individual passions while in college.
- BH Photo – You can access free shipping, discounts on products, and even expert support/advice through BH Photo.
Student Movie Theater Discounts
- Alamo Drafthouse – Most locations have a student discount and a rewards club, which are pretty great! Just check with your local theater for the student discount.
- AMC – They say that students save every day of the week! Offer may vary depending on location.
- Cinemark – Discounts vary – go to the linked website to find out which Cinemark theaters in your area are participating
- Regal – Sells discounted tickets, though it might just be on Mondays now
- Check Local Theaters – If there is a theater near your college, chances are, they might have discount tickets.
Student Entertainment Deals
- Everand – Everand (formerly Scribd) is an eBook, audiobook, periodicals, and sheet music streaming service. It’s usually $8.99 a month, you can get a 60-day free trial here.
- Museums – I will not list every museum with a student discount because there are tons, but if a museum is nearby, call ahead and see what deals they have for students. Some museums even let university students in free!
- NY Times—A digital subscription to the New York Times is just $1 a week —it’s usually $3.75 a week. Some universities have a deal with the NY Times where you can access it for free – you can learn more about that here.
- Wall Street Journal – Deals will vary.
- The Economist – Save up to 75% on your annual subscription.
- Sports Teams—If your school offers an All-Sports Pass and you plan to attend many sporting events, you should definitely buy this.
- It will cost far more to buy tickets for each event individually. In addition, major and minor league teams may also offer discounted tickets. Real Salt Lake, Utah’s MLS team, had passes between 50 and 75 dollars, and you could attend 10 games as a student with that pass. Call or search around if you are curious about teams in your area.
- Spotify—Get three months of Spotify Premium for free, and then it’s just $4.99 a month afterward. This includes ad-supported Hulu and SHOWTIME.
- Itunes Music: You can get a discounted subscription for up to 48 months and a membership to Apple TV for a limited time.
- GetOutPass is not specifically for students, but it gives you access to many fun activities. Get one of these with a couple of friends and never wonder what you’ll do on the weekends again.
College Student Cell Phone Discounts
Many cell phone companies will offer exclusive student discounts or a certain percentage off of bills for students. Below, I have linked to the pages for different companies on Student Rate, which updates regularly what the current promotions are
- T-mobile – It doesn’t appear that they have an official discount anymore for service plans, but from what I’ve read, you can save money on your phone purchase as a student.
- Verizon – This page shares the current promotions for students through Verizon. At the time of this writing, you can save $10 on a plan for one phone and up to $25 on a plan for two people.
- Sprint – Sprint is now a part of T-Mobile, but at this time of this writing, they still have their page up for special education pricing
- Cricket – I don’t think Cricket has an official student savings program, but they do offer various promotions that might be appealing to students
- AT&T – AT&T didn’t have a page on Student Rate, but they do say that students may be able to take advantage of their signature program for discounts.
- There are seriously so many inexpensive cell phone companies around these days! Just take a look on Google to find them all.
Gyms with Student Discounts
There are a variety of affordable gyms out there that are geared toward college students – and some even offer discounts. I go more in-depth on the different gyms with student discounts here, but here is a basic overview. Many of these are dependent on the individual gym.
- 24 Hour Fitness
- Aaptiv – not an actual gym membership, but it you can get 50% off the subscription. Great for apartment workouts!
- Planet Fitness
- Orange Theory
- Local Gyms
- Crunch Fitness
- Pure Gym
- Snap Fitness
Miscellaneous Student Discounts
- FedEx – Show your student ID and save 30% on documents and 20% on shipping services.
- GM – College students and recent graduates are eligible. Awesome discounts on new Buick, GMC, or Chevrolet vehicles. Some discounts up to $5,000
- Sam’s Club – At one time, Sam’s Club had a Collegiate Membership Club. I can’t find the specifics on it currently, but it’s worth asking about if you are trying to sign up. With that said, they practically give away their memberships these days with Groupon deals, so be sure to look for one before you signup.
- Car Insurance: Most insurance companies will give you a “Good Student” discount. Geico, All-State, Esurance, and State Farm are a few that I know.
- If you aren’t driving a lot, I would strongly recommend seeing if Noblr or Root, as they charge you based on how you drive (and how often). You can check out my Noblr review for my experience.
- DropBox—I am not sure if there is a current promotion going on, but DropBox will sometimes offer extra storage for students with an .edu address. DropBox is an awesome resource for students, especially if you collaborate on projects with others or work on school computers and don’t want to carry around a USB drive. You can upload rather large files, which is one of the biggest selling points in my eyes.
- Textbooks – Nobody wants to think about buying textbooks, I know. But there are lots of ways to save. I won’t go into too much detail right now, but renting text books can be a great way to save money.
- You can Google “cheap textbooks” will bring up several websites where you can buy and sell used and new textbooks. Finally, some schools have exchange programs where you can talk with other students and barter for their books.
- Amazon Student – This is the single best investment I think I’ve ever made. Amazon Student is Amazon Prime, at half the price. You get free two-day shipping on anything that ships from Amazon, access to the Amazon Video Library, access to the Kindle library, and more. It has more than paid for itself in my eyes, because we buy a lot of things off of Amazon.
- BenchPrep – I often see great discounts available for BenchPrep. Click on the link to see the code. This is a great deal for anyone that is wanting to take a test like the GRE, LSAT, GMAT, etc. I also often see Groupons available for BenchPrep as well.
Stores that Offer Student Discounts
- Best Buy College Deals – By registering with your .edu email address, you will get coupons emailed to you that can be used in-store or online
- How does Best Buy verify student discount?
When you signup for the Best Buy student program, they will verify your identity through SheerID, which is used by many companies.
After you are verified, you won’t need to show an additional ID when using the discount. If SheerID fails to identify you, they do give you an opportunity to submit more information to prove your identity. - Does Best Buy give high school student discounts?
The website says it is a College Student discount program, however, quite a few people have said they’ve been able to get a student discount for high school students, trade schools, etc.
- How does Best Buy verify student discount?
- Sally Beauty Supply – They have a student discount card that can give you some good discounts every now and then.
- Madewell – Valid in-store only, students and teachers get 15% off purchases made at Madewell
- Banana Republic – 15% off full-priced, in-store purchases
- Club Monaco – 15% off full-priced and sale items in-store and online
- J. Crew – 15% off in-store
- Target – If you signup for a college registry, you will get 15% off anything that is on it.
- TOMS – Get free shipping on all orders.
- You should check some local stores in your area for discounts as well.
Restaurants and Student Discounts
Many fast and casual food restaurants offer discounts or free items for students. However, this varies widely depending on the location, so I would recommend calling beforehand to see if the specific location you are going to is participating.
However, here is a list of places that have been confirmed to have discounts at certain locations (I’m not sure which ones, though.)
- Burger King
- Qdoba
- Chipotle
- Subway
- Chick-fil-a
- Waffle House
- Papa Johns
- Pizza Hut
- Dominos
- Kroger
- Little Caesars – $1 crazy bread
College Student Discounts for Travel
Some young adults think that college is a great time to travel, and lucky for them, there’s a lot of travel deals and websites out there that are aimed specifically for college students. Groupon and Living Social often have amazing deals on travel, so I’d highly recommend checking those out. But here are a few other ways to save while traveling.
- Student Universe
- Airbnb – Get $40 off your first trip when you go through this link.
- Bus Passes: Many universities have deals with local transit systems to help give students lower bus fares.
- Amtrak – Students can save 15% with a student advantage card, which is only $20 and also gives discounts on other items like food.
- ISIC Card – This card is a must-have for students traveling or studying abroad, as it is “only internationally-recognized proof of full-time student status issued in over 125 countries.” Students who have this card gain access to over 42,000 perks around the globe.
- CoachUSA – CoachUSA has a free V.I.P student travel card, which has different perks with it. They have partnered with a bunch of different universities around the United States to help students get discounts on bus travel.
- Eurail – If you are traveling in Europe, this is a great way to save money. There are different discounts depending on your age and situation.
Online Stores with Student Discounts
- Rakuten – This is formally known as Ebates, but it’s an awesome way to save money with your online shopping. You even get a gift card for joining! This is one of my BEST tips for getting back some extra cashback while in college.
- StudentRate – I really like this site. It lists up-to-date information on different discounts available for students. I wish it had suggested when I was an undergrad. It has everything from textbook deals, to wireless, to giveaways.
- Ibotta – This is my favorite cashback app for grocery shopping, restaurants, etc. Great for college students!
- Starving Student Cards – These cards are only available in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, but they are pretty amazing. Forrest and I both have gotten one the past few years, and they definitely pay for themselves. They are filled with great discounts on food, activities, entertainment, car maintenance, hair cuts, and more, as well as lots of free items. I even got a free strand of pearls! We have been able to get 2 for $30 in the BYU Bookstore, but the price varies. You can purchase them online, though, and see what kind of items are listed.
- Student Advantage – This is similar to the starving student card, but it is available nationwide and has hotel discounts, shoes, food, and much more.
How do companies verify student status?
One thing you should definitely do is make sure you have a .edu email address. These are free and available through your university.
Some discounts require a student ID to redeem. This is more common for in-person discounts.
Many companies use a service called “SheerID” to quickly and securely verify that you are, indeed, a student.
You will need to provide some kind of ID, such as:
- Valid student ID card
- Current class schedule
- Registration Receipt
- Acceptance Letter
- Official document from the University showing you are enrolled
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Leza Perkins says
Hello,
I am a college student and our school lists JoAnn fabrics as a company that offers a student discount. However when I went in and asked about it, they said that they no longer offer that.
I am excited about some of the other potentials though. Thank you for posting this.
kevin says
The link for Academic Superstore is actually linking to Lenovo. Also, Journeyed.com is another site for discounts for software for students.
Katie says
Ah, thanks for catching that! I just added Journeyed.com 🙂 Thanks!
aap says
Textbooks were always the killer for me. I would always buy them in the store, then order them online, then return them lol. Book store hated me for that.
Katie says
Haha, understandable! I actually just did a post all about saving money on textbooks 🙂
Katelyn F says
It doesn’t matter what level of student you are does it? Could my doctorate husband still get all of these discounts?
Katie says
He should be able to!
Brenna says
This is great! I will be forwarding this on to my sister.
Katie says
Awesome! I hope she will be able to find some use of it 🙂
Breanne says
Wow I had no idea about most of these!
Katie says
I didn’t either, to be honest! Some of them are awesome.