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Free Stuff for College Students

Free Stuff for College Students

We’ve found free stuff for college students across the United States! While you’re busy studying for your college classes, you can snag some excellent freebies (and some great student discounts!) from companies and organizations around the United States.

It’s no secret that college students are notoriously broke… but now there’s help!

Free Food

Rumor has it that you can score student discounts from Arby’s, Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, Dairy Queen, Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, Qdoba, Sonic, Subway and Waffle House. However, I wasn’t able to verify these discounts because they (allegedly) vary by location.

My suggestion? Keep your student ID in your wallet and always ask if you can get a student discount. You’re more likely to find these at restaurants that are located near a college or university! No harm in asking, right?!

Starving Student App

In Utah, college students can register for the Starving Student App to get coupons for local restaurants and retailers! Coupons can include free drinks, copies from the local UPS store, and even veterinary services.

You can browse the app for deals or look for the iconic Starving Student sticker at participating locations.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Students may be eligible for SNAP (EBT) benefits! This program can give you a monthly allotment to help you purchase food.

If you get SNAP benefits, you can also get some incredible EBT discounts as well!

Use the FREE Stuff Finder

The Free Food Finder website locates restaurants on and around campus that are offering free food. Click here to go to the Free Stuff Finder website!

Free Fun

College students don’t usually have big budgets for recreation but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun things in your neighborhood!

Get Admission Discounts

Many museums, zoos, arenas, concert halls and events offer free or seriously discounted admission for students. If there’s a place you’ve been wanting to go, look into student pricing. You might be surprised!

There are way too many offers to include in a nationwide post like this. If there’s a place you’d like to go, be sure to call ahead and ask if they have a student discount.

Go to the Movies

Amazing student discounts are available from Marcus Theaters  and Cinemark Theaters.

Marcus Theaters, which are located in the Midwest, invite students and faculty to $7.50 movies on Thursdays – and they even include 46 ounce popcorn! There may be an extra charge for 3D and other extras.

Cinemark also offers student discounts but they vary by location. Not all locations will offer a discount. You will need to contact your local Cinemark to see if they participate.

Free Subscriptions

Recurring subscriptions can break the bank but there are some ways to save money! Some of my favorite free stuff for college students can be found in this section.

Amazon Prime

You can get six months of Amazon Prime Student for FREE! This service includes free food delivery, 24/7 homework help through Course Hero, up to 10% off flights and hotels through StudentUniverse and so much more!

You’ll also get access to other discounts on Amazon services, including discounts on several Prime Video Channels, Amazon Music, Kindle Unlimited, and more!

If you don’t cancel within the six month trial period, you’ll be billed just $7.49 per month to continue the service. That’s 50% off the normal rate! This is my absolute favorite student discount. Claim your Amazon Prime Student trial now!

Apple Music

Interested in the Apple Music subscription service? Students who are enrolled in a degree-granting university or college can get a discount on Apple Music for up to 48 months! You can also get Apple TV+ for a limited time.

In order to be eligible, you must be a student studying for either a bachelor degree, post-graduate degree or equivalent higher-education course at a university or college (if in the United States).

Please note that the service will periodically verify your enrollment and you may be kicked off the student discount program if they discover you aren’t currently enrolled.

Headspace

Headspace offers a generous 85% discount for college students in the United States and other select countries. The offer is currently priced at $9.99 per year – which is roughly $0.83 per month!

You can renew every year at this price for as long as you are a college or university student. However, you’ll need to keep an eye out for that annual renewal notification so that you can verify your student status in time.

Peloton

The Peloton app is roughly 50% off for college students! You will need to sing up on their Offers page and verify your eligibility in order to claim this price.

The service uses SheerID to verify your college enrollment.

Spotify

Students can register for a FREE trial month of Spotify. After the trial, you’ll get Spotify Premium, Hulu and Showtime for just $4.99 per month!

This offer only includes Hulu with ads.

Washington Post

Newspapers are a dying breed. To keep revenues up, the Washington Post has instituted a paywall that prevents non-paid users from reading more than a few articles per month.

Fortunately, students get unlimited access to the Washington Post for just $1 every 4 weeks! That’s a $9/month savings!

Professional Organization Memberships

Students can join professional organizations for free or cheap! Some of the participating associations include the National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Planning Association, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Software

Many companies offer free (or discounted) software to college students. After all, if you learn on one suite of software, you’re more likely to buy it after graduation. Giving you free access in college helps the company and it helps you, too!

Adobe Creative Cloud

College students can save over 60% on their Adobe Creative Cloud subscription! It’s just $20 per month for the first year and $30 per month after that! That’s a huge savings off the standard price.

Autodesk

College students can get free access to Autodesk products, including:

  • Tinkercard
  • Fusion 360
  • Revit
  • AutoCAD
  • Inventor Professional
  • 3ds Max
  • Maya
  • Advance Steel
  • Alias AutoStudio
  • Arnold
  • AutoDesk
  • Civil 3D
  • Fabrication CADmep
  • Factory Design Utilities
  • FeatureCAM
  • Flame
  • FormIT
  • Mudbox
  • and more

Autodesk seeks to inspire would-be designers, digital artists and engineers by providing them with the tools required to learn their craft. Students, teachers and academic institutions can obtain free licenses to over 100 different pieces of Autodesk software!

The licenses are granted for an initial year but they can be renewed as long as you remain eligible.

JetBrains

If you’ve got an .edu email address, you can download the award-winning All Products Pack of developer tools from JetBrains!

This license can be used at school or at home for personal use. It cannot be used for commercial purchases.

Microsoft

All students can acquire OneNote and Imagine software (for coding) for free.

Students who attend qualifying institutions can also download the Microsoft Office suite for free!

You Need a Budget

Students can get free access to the You Need a Budget financial software for an entire year. The company has decided to extend this offer to help students get through college with as little debt as possible.

To get started, you just need to provide proof enrollment to YNAB. You’ll get a unique code that you can redeem for a free year of access.

Other Discounts

Bed Bath & Beyond

Bed Bath & Beyond offers a College Savings Pass that will give you 20% when you shop at Bed Bath and Beyond. This is a limited time offer that is only valid in early fall every year.

Free Checking Accounts

Nobody wants to pay a monthly fee for their bank account. Students can get free checking accounts from US Bank, Bank of America and Chase.

Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.