Student deals and discounts to help you while on a college budget
August 07, 2024 – 12 mins
Deals to make budgeting smarter, not harder
Going to college can change a lot about your lifestyle, especially if you’re in a new area and don’t know where to get the best deals.
Here’s a list of over 60 popular brands and the discounts they offer students, either using your student ID or your university email account. Be sure to check the terms of the deals to make sure you meet the eligibility criteria.
Find out how you can save on Apple, Chipotle, hotels and transportation, or your favorite streaming services.
Tech and software discounts
Technology is no longer a luxury in the classroom—it’s become a necessity. Thankfully, these brands offer some great deals for students.
- Apple offers discounts through their Education Store for faculty, staff, students, and parents purchasing for their student.
- Dell has discounts on brand-new PC’s, laptops, and other computer accessories with a valid university email.
- Microsoft is making Office365 accessible to students at eligible universities for free. If you’re not eligible, you could split a monthly subscription with up to six friends, turning a $10/month subscription into less than $2/month. Microsoft also offers a 10% discount for students, faculty, and parents.
- You can get up to 40% off HP products by joining the HP Education Store Program for students, faculty, and parents without needing a student ID.
- Best Buy will send coupons to students when you create an account with them and sign up for student discounts.
- Students can access the entire Adobe platform for up to 60% off subscriptions.
- Lenovo can offer an additional 5% off for students with a valid student ID.
- T-Mobile has deals including discounts on home internet, phone plans, phones, tablets, and smartwatches.
- AT&T sometimes offers student discounts. By entering your student email on their discount website, you can see if you are eligible for current deals.
- Verizon lets students save on Fios Home Internet, Verizon phone plans, and more.
Clothing, shoes, and accessories discounts
When looking for ways to save money on clothes, options like secondhand or thrift shops are a great place to style for less. If you prefer new clothes, verifying your student status through sites like UNiDAYS and Student Beans, you get access to student deals for a lot of your favorite brands like:
- ASOS: 10% off with a valid student email until you graduate
- Aeropostale: 15% off by validating through UNiDAYS
- Aerie posts great deals through UNiDAYS, including 25-70% off almost everything PLUS an extra 20% off
- Banana Republic: 15% off in store through Student Edge with a valid ID
- Boohoo: 70% off + an extra 15% off through Student Beans, or other offers through UNiDAYS
- Club Monaco: 15% off with a valid .edu email address
- Crocs: 25% off for students, which is stackable with clearance items online
- Dockers: 25% off all apparel to eligible students
- Express: 5% off eligible purchases by registering with UNiDAYS
- Forever 21: 21% off by verifying your student status with UNiDAYS
- H&M: 20% off after verifying through StudentBeans
- J.Crew: 15% off J.Crew purchases
- Kate Spade: 75% off plus an extra 10% off through UNiDAYS
- Madewell: 15% off for students and teachers after verifying your status
- Nike: 40% off coupon through Student Beans
- TOMS: 15% off through UNiDAYS
Dorm décor discounts
When you get to college, your dorm is one of the places you spend the most amount of time, so it’s a great idea to make it feel like home. If you can make your dorm feel cozy and comfortable on a budget, even better!
- Amazon offers great deals on dorm décor, and with sales all year round. Purchasing ahead with Prime Day or taking advantage of the free six months of Amazon Prime for students is your ticket to budget décor.
- Student Beans has different offers for JOANN’s decor.
- You can get 15% off Pottery Barn when you sign up with your .edu email address.
A lot of college students also end up donating their décor, so before buying new, you could check out thrift stores or secondhand shops!
Books, magazines, and news discounts
When it comes to college, books can be a major expense. While a lot of textbooks can be bought as PDFs, renting books or buying them secondhand can save money and space (digital and physical) at the end of the year. Plus, previous owners may have written notes in margins, helping you know what to focus on.
- Amazon has books available physically or digitally, and with six months of Amazon Prime for students, you can rent or get used books for great rates at low costs.
- Barnes & Noble sells textbooks, with used or rental textbooks being up to 80% off, or you can purchase a new textbook for up to 40%. Plus, Barnes & Noble has a buyback program, making your textbook even cheaper.
Some eligible universities also offer popular news subscriptions for free, but if yours doesn’t, there are still great deals for these three popular news sites.
- Fans of Wordle: The New York Times offers their subscription at $1 a week for students. Giving access to their news articles, games library, recipes, podcasts, product reviews, and so much more.
- If your newsfeed is more focused on business and finances, you could subscribe to The Wall Street Journal at $1 a week. Granting unlimited access to news and audio articles, crosswords and puzzles, and exclusive deals.
- If you’re looking to share with friends, The Washington Post offers a $6/month where you can also share a subscription and grant 30-day digital passes to send articles with friends and family or other students. If you’re just looking for yourself, they also offer a $1/week subscription.
Food discounts
Sometimes you're not in the mood for what’s on the dining hall menu or cooking at home, but you still want to eat on a budget. One great tip is to show your student ID, because at some participating locations, restaurants will offer a student discount. You also can check UNiDAYS and Student Beans to see if there are any offers available.
These are some popular chains that offer discounts for students:
- Buffalo Wild Wings—get a free “sharable” with a purchase of $5 or more (for students from participating universities)
- Burger King—get a discount and voucher codes with your StudentBeans account
- Chick-fil-A
- Chipotle—get a discount and voucher codes with your StudentBeans account
- Domino's—35% discount with a StudentBeans account
- Dunkin’
- McDonald's—show your UNiDAYS ID at checkout to get a free cheeseburger, hamburger, or McFlurry
- Papa John's—get a discount and voucher codes with your StudentBeans account
- Subway
- Starbucks
- UberEats is offering 4 weeks of UberOne free for students, and only $4.99 a month after. If you order out, get free delivery on eligible orders and 10% off non-grocery orders of $15 or more, or 5% off eligible grocery orders of $35 or more.
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Entertainment discounts
When push comes to shove, you can’t be studying all the time. Luckily, some of your favorite forms of fun and entertainment are offering discounts to students.
- At participating theaters, AMC and Cinemark have discounts for students when you present a valid student ID to the ticket booth.
- Apple Music offers up to 48 months (about four years) of discounted Apple Music with verified student status through UNiDAYS or SheerID.
- Disney+ is offering students 15% off when verifying their eligibility through UNiDAYS.
- With Spotify, students can get one free month of Spotify Premium, and only $5.99 after, PLUS Hulu streaming included.
- If you’re not looking for Spotify Premium included, Hulu is doing their own deal of $1.99 a month for their streaming service.
For more options, check out museums and local attractions near you. A lot of places offer free or discounted tickets to students with a valid student ID.
Travel discounts
Whether you’re commuting, traveling home for the holidays, or looking for a getaway, you can even get discounts on travel.
- Amtrak offers 15% off for students travelling, and you can save even more if you travel during “Early Bird” or “Night Owl” hours to and from participating stations.
- For flights, hotels, and tours, Student Universe helps you find discounts to go around the world.
- Travelosophy has discounts on airfare, tours, cruises and other experiences.
- Uber is offering four weeks of UberOne free for students, and only $4.99 a month after, giving you access to member pricing on eligible rides.
Banking discounts
As you enter college, money management is a big deal. Figuring out where to put your money and how to spend it is a big part of the college experience, so it’s great that there are resources for students that help you to learn how these systems work.
- U.S. Bank gives students free checking and overdraft protection, helping you to learn how to manage your account with a bit of grace.
- Chase has students free checking and a $100 bonus for opening an account.
- Insurance companies like Allstate, GEICO, Farmers, and Nationwide also may offer student discounts up to 20%. If you need to find your own car insurance, these are great options.
Health & fitness discounts
It's always important to keep your health in mind. It can be difficult to focus on it during school, but finding sales or discounts can help the transition.
- 24 Hour Fitness gyms can offer discounted rates for high school students at participating locations.
- GlassesUSA has discounts on contact lenses, glasses frames, and sunglasses through UNiDAYS.
Even more discounts
Moving, notetaking, and more. Here are a few other discounts to make sure you can find what you’re looking for, for less.
- If you’re moving, Penske offers 10% off for students, plus tons of other benefits for students if you’re moving.
- If you’re closer to home, you can get 20% off local moves and 15% off one-way moves with Budget Truck Rental.
- Evernote, a popular note-taking product, offers eligible students 40% off their Professional version of their note taking product.
- Resumewriters.com provides professional advice for your resume and cover letter, plus $20 off for students on eligible purchases. You could also look for career resources at your university or county.
Paying for college
There are a lot of costs that can be daunting when you enter college, and these are a few ways to save where you can.
When it comes to your tuition, you can save by applying for scholarships, like this no-essay $2,000 scholarship, submitting the FAFSA® for federal aid, or applying for a private student loan.
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