OpenAI will now make its premium ChatGPT Plus subscription available at no cost to college students in the US and Canada through the end of May, providing students with free access to advanced AI capabilities that are typically behind a paywall, including OpenAI’s latest language model, GPT-4o, as well as image generation, voice interaction, and enhanced research tools.
The company cites the increasing demands on college students as a key motivator behind the move. “Today’s college students face enormous pressure to learn faster, tackle harder problems, and enter a workforce increasingly shaped by AI,” said Leah Belsky, OpenAI’s Vice President of Education. “Supporting their AI literacy means more than demonstrating how these tools work. It requires creating space for students to engage directly, experiment, learn from peers, and ask their own questions.”
The ChatGPT Plus subscription, which usually costs $20 per month, comes with several advantages over the free version of ChatGPT. One of the most significant benefits is the ability to use GPT-4o, OpenAI’s most advanced AI model. Additionally, Plus users receive priority access to the service during peak hours, ensuring uninterrupted use even when demand is high. The subscription also comes with the AI firm’s Deep Research tool, which enhances academic research by analyzing multiple sources, identifying relationships between concepts, and synthesizing information more effectively than traditional search engines. Unlike standard search tools that return a list of links, Deep Research can compare methodologies across studies and generate comprehensive summaries, making it particularly useful for literature reviews and research projects.
Students using ChatGPT Plus will also have access to advanced image generation and voice interaction tools, enabling them to create visual content, transcribe spoken language, and engage with the AI in a more dynamic way. These capabilities can aid in various academic tasks, from creating study materials to improving language comprehension through interactive discussions. So they will be able to use ChatGPT Plus to generate summaries of academic materials and explain difficult concepts, as well as serve as a productivity aid by assisting with drafting essays, organizing notes, and generating study schedules.
To claim the free ChatGPT Plus subscription, students must verify their enrollment at a degree-granting institution in the U.S. or Canada. OpenAI has partnered with SheerID, a third-party verification service, to confirm student status. Once verified, eligible students will receive two months of free access, and those who are already subscribed to ChatGPT Plus will receive a credit for the equivalent period. This verification process ensures that the program remains exclusive to college students, preventing misuse by non-students while maintaining equitable access for those in higher education. The initiative is expected to reach millions of students across the two countries.
OpenAI’s latest initiative is part of a larger effort to carve a place for itself in the edtech sector. The company has been active in academia for nearly a year, having launched ChatGPT Edu in May 2024, a specialized version of its chatbot tailored for universities. Since then, OpenAI has partnered with multiple institutions, including California State University, where ChatGPT Edu was rolled out across all campuses. Additionally, the firm recently formed the NextGenAI Consortium, committing $50 million to support AI research at 15 colleges.
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