Published Jan 25, 2024 ⦁ 13 min read
GitHub Student Pack: Getting Started

GitHub Student Pack: Getting Started

Students and learners looking to maximize their development potential would agree: leveraging the right tools and resources is critical for growth.

The GitHub Student Developer Pack aims to accelerate your progress by providing access to professional tools and training materials for free.

In this guide, we'll explore eligibility, account setup, key benefits, and community engagement with the GitHub Student Pack. You'll learn how to launch your development journey with a robust toolset tailored for students.

Introduction to the GitHub Student Developer Pack

The GitHub Student Developer Pack provides students with free access to developer tools and services to help them build real-world projects and grow their careers. This guide covers the key details you need to know to get set up.

Understanding the GitHub Student Developer Pack

The GitHub Student Developer Pack includes:

  • GitHub Pro and GitHub Team for free while you're a student
  • Free access to cloud services like AWS, Azure, and DigitalOcean to host your projects
  • Discounts on developer tools like Atom, SQL Server, and Namecheap domains
  • Access to free courses, tutorials, and more through partners like Coursera and Dataquest

With these benefits, you can build an impressive portfolio, save money on tools, and learn new skills - everything you need to launch your career.

Eligibility Criteria for the GitHub Student Discount

To qualify for the GitHub Student Developer Pack, you must:

  • Be currently enrolled in a degree or diploma granting course of study such as a college, university, homeschool, or similar institution
  • Have a verifiable school-issued email address
  • Be 13 years or older

You'll need to provide proof of your enrollment by uploading documentation during the application process.

Applying for the GitHub Student Pack

Follow these steps to apply for the GitHub Student Developer Pack:

  1. Go to GitHub Education
  2. Click "Get benefits"
  3. Select "I'm a student"
  4. Enter your information and upload proof of enrollment
  5. Click submit and wait for approval

Once approved, you'll receive an email with instructions for activating your GitHub Student benefits and accessing free tools from partners.

With your free GitHub Student Developer Pack, you'll have everything you need to take your coding skills to the next level.

Is GitHub free for students?

GitHub offers a free Student Developer Pack that provides students with valuable real-world development tools and services. This allows students to access professional developer tools to build their skills and portfolio.

Some of the key benefits of the GitHub Student Developer Pack include:

  • Free access to GitHub Pro account features like unlimited private repositories during your time as a student
  • Free domain registration for one year through Namecheap
  • $50 in credit for cloud services on DigitalOcean
  • Access to free courses on Educative to learn in-demand tech skills
  • A free 6 month subscription to 1Password password manager

To be eligible, you need to be 18+ years old and enrolled in an accredited academic institution. The Student Developer Pack is available for an unlimited duration as long as you remain an active student.

Overall, the GitHub Student Developer Pack provides excellent value to students by removing financial barriers to accessing real-world developer tools. It's a great way to get hands-on experience using the same services that professional developers rely on.

Is GitHub copilot still free for students?

GitHub Copilot can be an invaluable tool for students looking to improve their coding skills. Here's what you need to know about GitHub Copilot's availability for students:

GitHub Copilot Individual vs GitHub Copilot Business

  • GitHub Copilot is available through personal accounts via GitHub Copilot Individual and through organization accounts via GitHub Copilot Business.

  • As a student, you likely have a personal GitHub account, so you would access GitHub Copilot through GitHub Copilot Individual.

GitHub Copilot is Free for Students

  • GitHub Copilot Individual is free for verified students and maintainers of popular open source projects.

  • To get GitHub Copilot for free as a student, you simply need to verify your student status on GitHub Education.

How Students Can Access GitHub Copilot

Here are the key steps students need to take to access GitHub Copilot for free:

  • Sign up for a free personal GitHub account if you don't already have one
  • Join GitHub Education and verify your student status
  • Enable GitHub Copilot in your account settings

Once enabled, you can use GitHub Copilot across your personal GitHub repositories completely free as a student.

So in summary - yes, GitHub Copilot does remain free for verified students to use through their personal GitHub accounts. It's a great way to help advance your coding skills as a student.

Is GitHub student pack worth it?

The GitHub Student Developer Pack provides students with free access to many valuable developer tools and resources that would otherwise require paid subscriptions. Here are some of the key benefits that make it worthwhile:

  • Access to Pro developer tools for free - This includes services like GitHub Pro, AWS Educate credits, DigitalOcean hosting credit, etc. These can be very useful for working on projects and developing your skills without having to pay.

  • Learning resources - There are free courses, books, and tutorials on sites like Educative and Udacity that help you learn in-demand skills like cloud computing, AI, programming languages and more.

  • Free .me domain from Namecheap - Get a free 1-year domain to build your portfolio site or host projects. This adds a lot of credibility.

  • Exclusive offers and credit - Special student offers, credit and trials for tools like Travis CI, Scaleway, SendGrid, etc. It's a chance to test out premium tools.

  • Resume boost - The GitHub Student Developer Pack adds some great recognizable names to your resume like GitHub and Amazon Web Services.

  • Community - Connect with other students around the world and stay up-to-date through GitHub Campus Experts channels.

Overall, the GitHub Student Developer Pack provides excellent value and is undoubtedly worth applying for if you're a student interested in software development or computer science. The free access to pro tools and learning resources alone make it worthwhile rather than having to pay full price for them.

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What are the requirements for GitHub for students?

To qualify for the GitHub Student Developer Pack, you must:

  • Be currently enrolled in a degree or diploma granting course of study such as a high school, secondary school, college, university, homeschool, or similar educational institution.

  • Have a verifiable school-issued email address or upload documents that prove your current student status.

  • Have a GitHub personal account.

Once you meet these requirements, you can sign up for the GitHub Student Developer Pack to access various free developer tools and services. Some of the benefits include:

  • Free access to GitHub Pro and other premium tools
  • Free domain name from Namecheap
  • Cloud hosting credits from DigitalOcean
  • Access to Lynda.com learning resources

To get started, visit the GitHub Education site and click on "Get benefits" to begin the application process. You'll need to verify your student status, then can start enabling all the free tools and services included in the pack.

The Student Developer Pack provides tremendous value if you're learning development or working on coding side projects. Well worth checking out if you meet the eligibility criteria listed above.

Creating an Account on GitHub for Students

Before accessing the GitHub Student Developer Pack, students need to create an account on GitHub. This section will guide you through the process.

Signing Up for GitHub Education

To sign up for a GitHub account with access to GitHub Education benefits:

  1. Go to https://education.github.com
  2. Click "Get benefits"
  3. Select "I'm a student"
  4. Enter your school-issued email address and click "Continue"
  5. Enter your name, create a password, and click "Continue"

You now have a GitHub account eligible for GitHub Education benefits like the Student Developer Pack.

Verifying Student Status on GitHub

To unlock the GitHub Student Developer Pack, you need to verify your student status:

  1. In your GitHub account, go to Settings > Emails
  2. Select your school email and click "Verify"
  3. GitHub will send a verification code to your school email address
  4. Enter the emailed code on GitHub to verify your student status

Once verified, you will have access to the GitHub Student Developer Pack.

Exploring GitHub Pro Student Advantages

With a verified student account, you automatically get a GitHub Pro upgrade for free. GitHub Pro Student provides:

  • Unlimited private repositories
  • Powerful code review tools
  • Advanced GitHub Actions
  • Expanded ecosystem of apps and services

Check your GitHub account settings to enable these Pro-level features as a student.

Maximizing GitHub Student Developer Pack Benefits

The GitHub Student Developer Pack provides a wide range of benefits to help students learn, build, and launch their development projects. By understanding and fully utilizing these resources, you can get the most value out of the pack during your academic career.

Leveraging the GitHub Student Free Domain with Namecheap

One of the key benefits offered is a free one-year domain from Namecheap. Here's how to set it up:

  • Sign up for a Namecheap account using your @edu email address to verify your student status.
  • Navigate to the GitHub Student Developer Pack page and click "Get Your Pack" to claim your Namecheap coupon code.
  • Go back to Namecheap and search for the domain you want. Add it to your cart and enter the coupon code during checkout to get your first year free.

With your free custom domain, you can now host student project websites, portfolios, blogs, and more.

Utilizing Cloud Credits from Microsoft Azure and DigitalOcean

The Student Pack includes $100 in Azure credit and $50 in DigitalOcean credit to use for hosting web apps, databases, virtual machines, and other cloud services.

To set up Azure, go to the Azure for Students page and sign up using your @edu email. Enter your details to activate the $100 credit. You can then deploy Azure services for your projects.

For DigitalOcean, go to the GitHub Student Developer Pack page and click "Get Your Pack" to claim the $50 credit coupon. Sign up on DigitalOcean with your @edu email and enter the coupon during account creation to activate your cloud credit.

With these combined credits, you can host, deploy, and scale cloud-based projects for full stack, mobile, IoT, and machine learning applications.

Accessing Educational Resources on Educative and 1Password

Beyond credits and tools, the Student Pack provides access to valuable learning resources.

Educative offers text-based courses on trending coding skills like Docker, Kubernetes, and web frameworks. Sign up with your @edu email to unlock access to over 100 free courses.

1Password provides a secure password manager for protecting your online accounts, along with security tips and guides. Claim your free 1Password Families account from the Student Pack page to start managing passwords.

Together, these resources help boost your development skills and knowledge.

By fully leveraging all the tools, credits, and learning materials included, you can get the most out of the GitHub Student Developer Pack to level up your projects.

Engaging with the GitHub Education Community

The GitHub Student Developer Pack provides more than just free tools and services; it's also an entry point into the GitHub education community. This vibrant community facilitates learning, collaboration, and growth for students around the world.

Joining the GitHub Classroom

GitHub Classroom empowers teachers to distribute code assignments and provide feedback right within GitHub. As a student, you can use GitHub Classroom to collaborate with classmates on projects, get feedback from teachers, and share your work through GitHub repositories.

To join a GitHub Classroom assignment:

  • Your teacher will provide you with a link or invite code for the assignment repository
  • Accept the assignment invitation to create your own copy of the repository
  • Clone the repository and work on meeting assignment requirements by committing changes
  • Push your work back up to GitHub and open a pull request when you are ready to submit
  • Your teacher can review your code, provide inline feedback, and merge it when ready

Using GitHub Classroom is a great way to sharpen your collaboration skills and get experience using Git version control for assignments.

Participating in the GitHub Community Exchange

The GitHub Community Exchange connects students with open source projects seeking contributors. It's a great way to start contributing to real-world projects and connect with maintainers and other developers around the world.

To participate:

  • Browse open issues tagged "good first issue" on projects seeking new contributors
  • Comment on issues you are interested in working on
  • Follow contribution guidelines to submit pull requests
  • Get feedback from maintainers and have your work merged

Contributing through the Community Exchange allows you to give back to projects you rely on while leveling up your development skills.

Becoming a GitHub Campus Expert

GitHub Campus Experts are students who lead tech communities on campus. As an expert, you can:

  • Organize hackathons, tech talks, workshops, and other events
  • Share GitHub resources and best practices with your peers
  • Promote open source values and collaboration
  • Grow your professional network and leadership skills

To become a campus expert:

  • Make sure you meet the basic eligibility criteria
  • Submit an application explaining your ideas and qualifications
  • Go through interviews with GitHub education team members
  • Get accepted and receive onboarding for your new role

The Campus Expert program recognizes students committed to growing local tech communities. It's an impactful leadership development opportunity.

Conclusion: Launching Your Development Journey with the GitHub Student Pack

Reviewing the Key Takeaways

The GitHub Student Developer Pack provides valuable resources to help students launch their development careers. Here are some key takeaways:

  • The GitHub Student Pack offers free access to developer tools and services worth over $200. This includes GitHub Pro, free .me domains from Namecheap, cloud hosting credits, and more.

  • To qualify, you must be a student aged 13+ and enrolled in a degree/diploma granting course of study. Verification is required.

  • Once verified, head to the education community portal at https://education.github.com to access the Student Pack and redeem available offers.

  • Make the most of GitHub Pro's unlimited private repositories for storing coursework and personal projects. Build out your portfolio.

  • Use cloud hosting credits to deploy apps and websites. Get hands-on experience with services like DigitalOcean.

  • Leverage discounts on elearning courses covering development topics. Expand your skills.

  • GitHub Campus Experts and student developer communities provide mentoring opportunities.

Overall, the GitHub Student Developer Pack unlocks valuable free resources to empower the next generation of developers and creators.

Exploring Further Opportunities

The https://education.github.com portal offers much more beyond the Student Pack:

  • GitHub Campus Experts - Become a campus leader promoting open source culture at your university.

  • GitHub Community Exchange - A global community of student developers collaborating on projects.

  • GitHub Global Campus - Apply to participate in the 12-week remote internship program.

  • GitHub Education Classroom - Educators can manage coursework and assignments on GitHub.

Take advantage of these amazing GitHub initiatives for students. They provide real-world experience that can kickstart your developer career!