Insights · Topics · Microsoft for Education Providers
There's a lever in the Microsoft license universe that stays under the radar at many education providers: Microsoft 365 A1 is simply free for eligible educational institutions — for teachers, for pupils, for students, any number of licenses. No volume contract, no negotiation trick, just standard conditions from the Microsoft Education program. We regularly see schools and academies paying for commercial Microsoft 365 licenses for hundreds of accounts because no one has told them: it's cheaper. Or even free.
Microsoft 365 Education
Microsoft 365 Education comes in three tiers: A1, A3, A5. Unlike the commercial plans, the entry tier here isn't cheap — it's free. Only when you need additional functions — desktop apps, advanced security, analytics — does paid differentiation begin. And what Microsoft charges here is very modest compared to the commercial world.
| Tier | Faculty (Teacher) | Student | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 A1 | free | free | Web and mobile Office, Microsoft Teams for Education, OneNote, OneDrive (1 TB), Sway, Forms |
| Microsoft 365 A3 | ~€3.00 | ~€2.30 | A1 + desktop Office (Windows / Mac), advanced device and identity management, Intune for Education |
| Microsoft 365 A5 | ~€7.40 | ~€5.55 | A3 + Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Purview Information Protection, Power BI Pro, advanced analytics |
Prices per user per month, billed annually, net. Source: microsoft.com/en-us/education/buy-license/microsoft365 — as of May 2026.
In practice this means: rolling out A1 to the whole institution and lifting only a clearly bounded group — school or academy administration, IT department, faculty — to A3 or A5 yields a full Microsoft 365 setup at costs that beat a comparable commercial setup by a factor of 10 to 20. The most common mistake we see: blanket A3 assignment for everyone because no one had the nerve to ask whether A1 would suffice. For 80% of pupils and students, A1 is enough — web Office plus Teams plus OneDrive covers everyday school and study work.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for education providers
Education providers often have real CRM needs but rarely frame them as CRM needs. A few examples we regularly see in practice:
For exactly these needs we productized the arades solution for educational institutions on Microsoft Dynamics 365 — in production since 2019. The question isn't "do we need CRM" but "how do we get the licenses at terms an educational institution can bear".
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is not free in the classic Education program and not as steeply discounted as M365. Standard prices apply: Customer Service Enterprise €91, Sales Enterprise €91, Business Central €95.30 per user per month. For a 20-person admin team at an academy that quickly comes to €1,800 per month — not trivial.
Here's the lever many education providers miss: if your sponsoring organization is a non-profit — registered association, gGmbH, foundation, church body — you are eligible for the Microsoft Non-Profit program. And there, D365 Customer Service Enterprise is not €91 but around €22 per user per month. A savings lever of around 75% on the standalone license. Business Central likewise drops from €95.30 to around €30.
Volkshochschulen, church educational institutions, foundation academies, non-profit-sponsored vocational training centers — all of these constellations are usually non-profit eligible, without administrations actively using it. We check the sponsoring structure in the initial conversation and take care of the application. More on this on the topic page Microsoft for non-profit organizations.
What we typically do at education providers
A1 for all teachers and learners, A3 or A5 selectively for school and academy administration, IT department and selected colleagues with elevated requirements. Domain verification, directory integration, setting up Microsoft Teams for Education, license governance.
Implementation of the arades solution for educational institutions on Dynamics 365. Course management, participant lifecycle, registration portal via Power Pages, accounting interface, re-invitation logic. License procurement via the right sponsoring structure.
Course approval workflows, participant onboarding, post-course feedback capture, automatic certificate generation, school- or academy-internal requests. Power Apps and Power Automate as the bridge between M365 and D365.
Concrete calculation examples
A general school with around 800 learners and 60 teachers. Requirement: everyone gets Microsoft 365 for class and school organization. The office and school leadership need the desktop apps including advanced security functions.
For comparison: had the same school bought commercial Microsoft 365 Business Standard for everyone, that would be around €12.50 × 860 × 12 = ~€129,000 per year. The lever is not "a bit cheaper" but a different cost dimension.
A continuing-education provider with non-profit sponsorship. 25 full-time trainers, 30 admin staff. Requirement: full Office, Microsoft Teams for online training, OneDrive, Microsoft Dynamics 365 for course and participant management.
On top comes the one-time implementation investment for the arades solution — calculated per project, plus an ongoing Application Care contract. Anyone calculating the license investment without checking the sponsoring-structure lever typically leaves four-figure savings per year on the table.
Eligibility & application
Microsoft defines eligibility for the Education program relatively clearly — and at the same time there are gray zones causing friction in administrative practice. What Microsoft accepts:
Where it can snag — and where we regularly do clarification work:
We accompany the eligibility application, handle communication with the Microsoft Education team and provide the justification logic. Verification usually takes a few business days, longer in more complex sponsoring structures. Source: microsoft.com/en-us/education/get-started/eligibility — as of May 2026.
How arades GmbH helps
We clarify the sponsoring structure, eligibility status and rough license needs. Half an hour is usually enough to say: A1 free for everyone, A3 for teachers, D365 via the non-profit sponsorship.
Structured intake of the inventory and modeling of the target setup in the License Cost Calculator. You see, before any contract, what each combination costs — with the identified arades price as a CSP Reseller.
Setting up the Microsoft 365 tenant, accompanying the education-tier application, configuring directory and domain, setting up Microsoft Teams for Education, automating license assignment. IT department training with clearly documented routines.
If CRM is needed: implementation of the prebuilt Microsoft Dynamics 365 application. Course master data, registration portal, billing, certificate generation. Live setup typically in 4 to 8 weeks.
Related
Prebuilt Microsoft Dynamics 365 application for course management, participant management, billing, certificates.
Read more →Often the second lever when the sponsoring structure is non-profit — up to 75% off D365.
Read more →Calculate the setup before the contract — with the identified arades price as a CSP Reseller.
Read more →Frequently asked questions
Yes. Microsoft 365 A1 is provided free of charge to Microsoft-accredited educational institutions — both for teachers (faculty) and students. The plan includes web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Teams for Education, OneNote, Sway, Forms and 1 TB OneDrive per license. The prerequisite is verification as an eligible educational institution via the Microsoft Education program. Source: microsoft.com/en-us/education/buy-license/microsoft365 — as of May 2026.
Microsoft 365 A3 Faculty is around €3.00 per user per month, A3 Student around €2.30. Microsoft 365 A5 Faculty costs around €7.40, A5 Student around €5.55. A3 adds desktop apps and extended security and device management functions to A1. A5 additionally adds extended compliance and analytics tools. Source: microsoft.com/en-us/education — as of May 2026.
Eligible are accredited schools (general and vocational), colleges and universities, adult education centers with a non-profit body, state-recognized continuing-education institutions and comparable public or non-profit education bodies. Commercial training providers without accreditation usually don't qualify — but we often check the path via a non-profit sister organization here.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is only modestly discounted in the classic Education program. But many education providers have a non-profit parent organization (registered association, gGmbH, foundation) eligible for the Microsoft Non-Profit program. Via this route, D365 Customer Service Enterprise and Sales Enterprise can be reduced from €91 to around €22 per user per month — the biggest lever for CRM setups at education providers.
Verification runs through the Microsoft Education portal. You submit evidence — accreditation notice, school leadership confirmation, tax notice for non-profit bodies, domain proof. Microsoft typically reviews within a few business days. For Volkshochschulen the answer is often positive but isn't requested by many administrations — simply because it isn't known. We accompany the application.
Licenses are bound to the educational institution — they automatically expire on departure. For former students, Microsoft allows a switch to the Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plan at commercial pricing. Data in OneDrive can be exported before account closure — we recommend an export workflow tied to deregistration or graduation.
A pure Microsoft 365 A1 rollout is productive within two to four weeks — domain verification, directory synchronization, license assignment, setting up Microsoft Teams for Education, teacher training. More complex setups with Dynamics 365 CRM integration (e.g. for training administration) need 8 to 16 weeks — see our arades solution for educational institutions.
30-min initial conversation · free
Half an hour is usually enough to clarify whether you can get A1 for free, whether your sponsoring structure qualifies for Non-Profit D365 and which setup really makes sense for your educational institution. Bring your school or academy administration along — we'll walk through it once cleanly.
