By Josh Smith, Contributing Writer

As a college student in the Communication and English departments, I find myself using my laptop to type papers for class almost daily. I am not the only one, however. College students in every department will find themselves having to write a research paper or give a PowerPoint presentation multiple times throughout their college career.

It’s a given, but in my last three years at West Liberty University, I have noticed many of my classmates and friends do not have one of the most essential tools that every college student should have: Microsoft Office.

Sitting in my Literary Criticism class last semester, my friend complained about his struggles with his word processor. He did have Microsoft Word, but his version was severely outdated; Word 2003 to be exact. But his struggles did not stop there. He had no other important software that all college students should have; Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, etc.

“I desperately need those programs, but they are extremely expensive,” he said.

I sat there and genuinely felt bad for my friend. He, like many other students I have talked to, did not know of the helpful benefit that Microsoft gives to every college student. By just using your university email, all college students and teachers have free, no-trial access to every program in Microsoft Office.

Here are the steps for you to acquire Microsoft Office 365 for free:

1. Go to this website and type in your university email. All West Liberty University students are able to download Office 365 for free, but students from other universities must check to see if their school is part of the Microsoft Volume Licensing program.
2. Once you provide your email, you will receive an email from Microsoft with further instructions on how to download Office 365. If your school is not included in this program, you will also receive an email stating your ineligibility.
3. Once you receive the email, you are now able to download Office 365 for free! Your download will include every program offered in Microsoft Office, with also an additional 1TB of free cloud storage in OneDrive.

Don’t struggle with outdated or inefficient software programs. If you are in college or teach, you may have the opportunity to obtain a $150 product for free. Go get your free programs today!