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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.
Best Student Discounts
As a college student, I was always looking for the best deals and discounts.
Fortunately, there are tons of discounts available for students — from clothing, to food, to electronics and entertainment.
I’ve scoured the Internet for the past few days, trying to find all the discounts that are available for students, to compile into this list. Let me know if I missed anything.
I wish I had known about all of these.
One thing you definitely want to do is make sure you have a .edu email address.
These are free and available through your university.
At BYU, it isn’t an actual email account you can use, but it forwards to you regular email and having it allows you to be eligible for all sorts of online discounts. Also, be sure to check around your college town — local stores and companies may have discounts for college students.
Student Discounts for Electronics
- Dell – Save up to 30% on select items; often have other promotions going on
- Apple – Various discounts, 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 when I was 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. Basically, you sign up for a monthly plan (starting at $2.99 – 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, and this can help substantially. You can even get your first month free!
- Norton – save up to 50%. This is my favorite anti-virus program.
- AVG – Great free option – does bog down computer quite a bit I’ve found.
- Check with your University — BYU offered free Internet security for students, so yours might to!
- 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 likely are available through your school; The whole Adobe suite was available at BYU for super, super inexpensive.
- Lenovo – Great discounts on high-quality laptops. I recently bought a Lenovo and I love it — in fact, I saw that the model I have is available for students, for more than $100 less than what I paid!
- Academic Superstore – Academic versions of software at discounted rates Sony – Staff, and students can save up to 10%
Student Movie Theater Discounts
- Alamo Drafthouse – Most locations have a student discount, and they also have a rewards club that is 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 Monday’s now
- Check Local Theaters – If there is a theater near your college, chances are, they might have discount tickets.
Student Entertainment Deals
- Scribd – Scibd is an eBook, audiobook, periodical, and sheet music streaming service. It’s usually $8.99 a month, you can get a 60-day free trial here.
- Museums – I am not going to list every museum that has a student discount, because there are tons, but if there is a museum nearby, call ahead and see what deals they have for students. Some museums even let students in free!
- NY Times – Just $1 a week for a digital subscription – it’s usually $3.75 a week.
- Wall Street Journal – Deals will vary.
- The Economist – 12 weeks for $30 or $96 for a year
- Sports Teams – If your school offers an All-Sports Pass, and you plan to go to a lot of sporting events, then definitely buy this.
- It will cost far more to buy the tickets for each event individually. In addition, major and minor league teams may offer discounted tickets as well. Real Salt Lake, Utah’s MLS team, had passes that were between 50 and 75 dollars, and you were able to attend 10 games as a student with that pass. Call or search around if you are curious about teams in your area.
- Spotify – Get 3 months of premium for free, and then it’s just $4.99 a month afterward – which includes ad-supported Hulu and SHOWTIME.
- Itunes Music: You can get a discounted subscription for up to 48 months, as well as a membership to Apple TV for a limited time.
- GetOutPass – not specifically for students, but it gives you access to SO many fun activities. Get one of these with a couple friends and never wonder what you’ll do on the weekends again.
College Student Cell Phone Discounts
Many cell phone companies will offer 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 took a look on Google to find them all.
Student Discount Gyms
- 24 Hour Fitness – This may vary depending on location. You can start by signing up for a free three-day pass and talk with your individual gym when you go in.
- Aaptiv – Okay, this isn’t a gym membership, but it’s just as good. We LOVE Aaptiv (you can read our review here), and you can get 50% off as a student – you can get more details here.
- Planet Fitness – This isn’t exactly a discount, per say, but Planet Fitness offers $10 memberships, which are month-to-month, and includes personal fitness training. For 19.99, you get that, plus a ton of extra goodies like massage chair visits, discounted drinks, unlimited guest privileges, and more.
- Gold’s Gym – Depends on location
- Local Gyms – Local gyms and recreation centers may offer student discounts as well. Also, if your school has exercise and recreation facilities, they are probably available for your use as long as you are a student.
Miscellaenous 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.
- 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 you do 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. Be sure to read this post I wrote about how to save big on textbooks.
- 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.
Student Retail Discounts
- Best Buy – By registering with your .edu email address, you will get coupons emailed to you that can be used in-store or online
- 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.
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
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.
Also, make sure you read our post about traveling on a budget! Tons of great advice!
- 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.
Discount Cards and Websites
- 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.
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