Streaming > Streaming TV, Movies, & More How to Get a YouTube Premium Student Discount Save money on entertainment while you're in school By Molly McLaughlin Molly McLaughlin Twitter Senior Editor & Content Strategist Molly K. McLaughlin has been a technology editor and writer for over a dozen years. She runs product reviews for Lifewire, overseeing the process from hands-on testing to publishing. lifewire's editorial guidelines Published on June 18, 2020 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email In This Article Expand Jump to a Section Who Is Eligible? What Does It Include? Step by Step: Sign Up About the Discount What Happens When You Finish School? This article explains how to sign up for a YouTube Premium Student Discount. Who Is Eligible for a YouTube Premium Student Discount? Students can sign up for a YouTube Music Premium or YouTube Premium membership at a discount. Students must be enrolled full-time at an eligible higher education institution in the U.S. and 60-plus other countries to qualify. The discounted subscriptions are valid for up to four years, and students must re-verify their eligibility each year. A company called SheerID does the verification. What Does the YouTube Premium Student Discount Include? Students get a 1-month free trial and pay about half of the monthly subscription amount. The membership includes the same benefits as a non-discounted membership. Members get access to both YouTube and YouTube Music Premium, ad-free videos and music, video and music downloads for offline viewing and listening, and the ability to play videos in the background while using other apps or when your screen is locked. How to Sign Up for the YouTube Premium Student Discount YouTube uses a service called SheerID to confirm eligibility. You can check if your school is included by going to the student membership landing page for YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium. On the landing page, click TRY IT FREE. A message will pop-up warning that you'll be redirected to SheerID for verification. Click CONTINUE. Fill in your country, university (options will populate as you type), first and last name, date of birth, and email address. Check the box to agree to the verification process. Click NEXT. Sometimes SheerID needs more information like a scan of your student ID, transcript, or other documentation from your university. Upload the files and click SUBMIT. YouTube says you'll get an email notification about your status within 20 minutes if you live in the U.S., and within 48 hours if you live elsewhere. If the verification is successful, SheerID will redirect you back to the YouTube Premium sign-up page. You might need to log into your YouTube account. Click your profile picture. Select Paid memberships and follow the on-screen prompts. Click LEARN MORE. Choose a payment method or add a new one. Click START 1-MONTH TRIAL. After the first month, YouTube will start billing you. This screen is for the regular free trial. You will click 1-MONTH TRIAL. About the Discount Students can sign up for a YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium account discount if they attend an eligible higher education institution in the U.S. or more than 60 other countries. Premium members get access to an ad-free version of YouTube as well as YouTube Originals. What Happens When You Finish School? The YouTube Premium Student discount is only available if you attend an eligible school and is limited to four years total. Whichever comes first—graduation or four years in school—is when your discount expires. YouTube requires that you verify your student status once a year by repeating the process above. When you no longer qualify, you can opt to pay the full price for a premium account or cancel your subscription. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit