Written by Emad Kasaeyan
AS A COLLEGE STUDENT, you’re probably on a tight budget and one of the best ways to have some fun while sticking to that budget is to take advantage of student discounts. To get your business, many retailers offer discounts on everything from clothes to pricey electronics. (If you’re responsible, you can also look into a student credit card that might offer special cash back deals for students – but pay off the balance each month.)
Not to mention, you’ve read Ramses’ article about “Getting Involved with On-Campus Opportunities”, still, maybe you’re looking for even more ways to save money — ones that don’t require you to do anything except be a student. If so, then you’ve come to the right place.
I’ve put together the ultimate list of student discounts. I’ll cover the digital deals you’ll find on all college and lifestyle sites, but I won’t stop there. I’ll also show you the huge number of discounts you can get in person. Even if you’re a coupon-clipping ninja, I guarantee you’ll learn something from this post. All you need is a student-ID or a “.edu” email address.
Digital Subscription Discounts
If you’re reading this article, that means you probably use the internet. And I’ll bet you also use it to access sweet digital services like Spotify, Hulu, or Amazon. If that’s the case, then being a student can save you a good chunk of money. Let’s take a closer look at some of the digital discounts you can score as a student.
Your busy schedule and potential lack of transportation might make shopping online a necessity while you’re in school. If you can’t afford to shell out for an Amazon Prime membership, you can sign up for a Prime Student membership. With Prime Student, you get the first 6 months free, including free two-day shipping, Prime Video and Prime Reading. After the six-month free trial ends, you can keep Prime for $6.49/month (half of the regular membership cost) or $59/year if you pay annually, while you’re still in school.
2. Audible
It can be tough to find time to sit down and read a book when you’re a student. Audible gives you access to professionally recorded audiobooks on pretty much any subject you can imagine. You can listen to them while you’re at the gym, walking to class, or commuting to campus. You can get two Audible books free when you sign up below. After that, the service is $14.99/month. If you’re trying to find ways to read more books, then Audible is a good place to start.
You can get Spotify Premium, Hulu, and SHOWTIME for just $0.99 for the first 3 months, then $4.99/month. Granted, the Hulu you get does have “limited” ads. But hey, it still beats watching cable TV.
4. Apple Music
If you’re a student at a degree-granting university or college in U.S., you can join Apple Music for a discounted membership price2 for up to 48 months (4 years). The time does not need to be continuous. You can get Apple music for just $4.99/month (instead of the regular $9.99). Verification through UNiDAYS is required
Service Discounts
Digital discounts are cool, but some parts of life still happen in the real world. So, what kinds of student discounts can you get for in-person services (and services that exist in the real world)? Let’s have a look.
5. Museums
Museums, theaters, music venues, and art galleries often offer discounted admission for students. The deals may come with some restrictions — only available on certain days of the week or at certain shows — but nevertheless, they’re out there. If the student price isn’t advertised at that museum you’d like to visit, don’t hesitate to inquire. Some locations allow students with a valid ID go in for free.
6. Zipcar
If you’re under 25, renting a car can be painfully expensive (trust me, I know). Zipcar can be a great alternative, and UCI has partnership with Zipcar that allow you to use the service. It’s $8.5/hr and you can join Zipcar for $15/year.
7. Movie Theaters
AMC has student discounts available at participating locations. Just have your student ID with you at the movie theater.
8. Car Insurance
Most major auto insurance providers offer a student discount. To qualify for the discount, you generally have to be under a certain age and “get good grades” (a 3.0 GPA or higher in most cases). You can find more detail on the major insurance providers web pages such as Allstate, State Farm, Esurance, Nationwide, Farmers, Geico, to name but a few.
Software and App Discounts
Software is really expensive. Learning to use a software well is essential for students to get the right job. Luckily, being a student is a merit to get free access to some popular software products.
Office 365
9. Yaay, one of the most amazing discounts for students in UCI is you can get free access to Office 365 Education, which includes famous Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Microsoft Teams.
Shopping Discounts
If you are the person who prefers to buy directly from a store rather than buying online from Amazon, for example if you are shopping for something you need to try on first like clothes or you want to buy a new laptop to start fresh in UCI and need to talk a real technician, then you can save some cash here:
10. Laptop
If you’re buying a new laptop for school, you can get very good deals from Lenovo (%10 off), Dell ($100 on any purchase over $499), Microsoft (%10 off), Apple (different throughout the year).
11. Clothing stores
There are too many student discounts available at clothing stores to be worth listing here. Assuming you still buy your clothes in person, the best approach is to go to any store you visit regularly and ask if they offer a student discount. For example, Banana Republic offers 15% off with a valid student ID.
Special Discount on Sites
You saw several kinds of promotion from many types of stores. Here I want you to introduce to some sites that are free to join, and they offer discounts on miscellaneous things.
12. Unidays
One of the most popular ones among students is Unidays. It provides deals on food, clothes, tech, transportation, etc.
Enjoy Saving Today 😉
There’s no denying college is expensive but taking advantage of these discounts can make your monthly allowance stretch further this semester. If you know of (or work for) any other businesses that offer student discounts, we would love it if you’d share them in the comments below so we can add them to our list.