Autodesk education and startup programmes are the ways Autodesk licenses its software outside ordinary commercial subscriptions. The main one is the Education Offering Type, which makes certain Autodesk products available “to Students, Faculty, Qualified Educational Institutions, and Other Authorized Education Users for Educational Purposes”.[1] Eligible students and educators receive this access free through a renewable one-year Education plan.[5] Two other programmes are aimed at new companies. Autodesk Fusion for startups gives qualifying startups three years of Fusion for up to 10 users.[6] The Technology Impact Program donates software to nonprofits and social impact startups.[7] Education licences cannot be used for commercial work. The startup and nonprofit programmes provide ordinary commercial subscriptions, at a discount or free.
Editions
The Terms of Use describe four Education Offering forms:[1]
| Form | How it is licensed | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Education Single User | One Education User per subscription, through the Autodesk Education plan | Education Single User |
| Educational Network | Installed on one file server; concurrent Education Users up to the number in the Offering Identification | Educational Network |
| Educational Multi-seat Stand-alone | Installed on up to the permitted number of computers, with no network access | Educational Multi-seat Stand-alone |
| Educational Stand-alone (Individual) | Licensed from 18 May 2018 to 3 August 2020; two computers | Legacy |
Education Offerings licensed before 18 May 2018 remain under the applicable License and Services Agreement.[1] The earlier Design Academy and Education Master Suite bundles were retired on 16 April 2015, and Autodesk points institutions to the Education Community instead.[8]
The Education catalog includes AutoCAD and its toolsets, Revit, Inventor, Fusion, 3ds Max, Maya, Civil 3D, Forma Site Design, Forma for Construction and many other products. Some products carry extra conditions. For Autodesk Flow Studio, for example, “All users must be post-secondary students age 18 or older”, and only post-secondary institutions may take part.[4] See Education access to Flow Studio: post-secondary students aged 18 or older only.
Eligibility
Education Users
An Education User must be one of the following:[1]
- a Qualified Educational Institution, accredited by an authorized governmental agency and with the primary purpose of teaching its enrolled students. This includes middle and high schools, junior colleges, colleges, universities, technical schools and recognized home-school programmes;
- Faculty, meaning employees or independent contractors of such an institution;
- a Student enrolled at such an institution who meets Autodesk’s minimum age; or
- an Other Authorized Education User whom Autodesk has authorized in writing.
Non-accredited institutions, training centers, places of worship, hospitals, healthcare systems, research laboratories, libraries and museums are excluded.[1] Autodesk’s eligibility page adds that “Training centers and retraining programs are not considered qualified educational institutions”. Their course participants are not eligible and may not use free 30-day trials for training. Thesis and master’s work, including topics set by an industry partner, qualifies when it forms part of the student’s degree. Some company apprenticeships in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom also qualify, as do competitors in Autodesk-sponsored competitions.[2] See Training centers and retraining programs are not qualified educational institutions.
Minimum age
Users “must be at least age 13, or the older age specified below if you reside in any country listed below”. The listed countries are China and South Korea, where the minimum age is 14.[3] See Minimum age 13 for Autodesk products, 14 in China and South Korea.
Metrics
Permitted use
Education Offerings may be used only for Educational Purposes: learning, teaching, or educational research and development. The Terms of Use exclude “commercial or professional purposes, training classes (including but not limited to classes open to the public), facilities management, or other for-profit purposes”. They add that “Education Offerings may not be used by the facilities department of a Qualified Educational Institution”.[1] Output made with Education Offerings may carry notices that limit its use, for example to the education field. Those limits can pass to other work that the output is combined with.[1] See Education Offerings may not be used by an institution facilities department.
Counting
- Devices. An Authorized User may use one Desktop Device and one Mobile Device at a time.[1]
- Assignment. A Student or Faculty member who holds an Education Single User subscription for their own use may not assign it to anyone else. Faculty who manage subscriptions for a class assign each one to a single verified Education User at a time and may reassign it under Autodesk’s reassignment policy.[1]
- Networked labs. Under Educational Network, the software may be accessed “only so long as the maximum number of concurrent Education Users does not exceed the permitted number of Education Users specified in the Offering Identification”.[1] See Educational Network: concurrent Education Users capped at the Offering Identification quantity.
- Accounts. Institutions control accounts created with their email domain and may set up single sign-on. When a student or employee leaves, the institution must remove their SSO and product access.[1]
Term
Access ends at the earliest of: the end of the term Autodesk specifies (“or, if no term is specified, one (1) year thereafter”); the date the user stops qualifying; the date Autodesk discontinues the Offering; or notice from Autodesk.[1] Autodesk may ask for proof of eligibility to grant or continue access.[1] Autodesk describes the Education plan for students and educators as renewable each year.[5] See Education entitlement ends after the stated term, or one year if none is stated.
Previous versions
Students, educators and institutions can get “the current version plus three versions back”, installed through the Education Community.[5] See Education plan previous versions: current plus three versions back.
Fusion for startups
Autodesk Fusion for startups offers “3-year access” to Fusion per user, “up to 10 users per startup”. Autodesk says applications are reviewed within 24 to 48 hours.[6] The page lists these qualifying criteria:[6]
- a registered company (for example an LLC);
- a professional email domain and a valid company website;
- venture-backed, angel-backed or bootstrapped status;
- no previous Autodesk Fusion subscription;
- a focus on designing or manufacturing physical products.
Service providers, resellers, contract manufacturers, consultants, makerspaces, non-profits and design agencies are excluded. The programme is not offered in every country. “Participants who are selected for the Program may not re-apply after completing the Program or upon removal from the Program”, and all access is subject to the Autodesk Terms of Use.[6] The price per user was not shown in the page’s static content when it was retrieved. See Fusion for startups and Fusion for startups: no re-application after completing the Program.
Technology Impact Program
Through the Technology Impact Program, “Autodesk donates software to nonprofits and social impact startups using design for environmental or social good”. The AEC, PD&M and M&E Collections are among the products offered. Autodesk reports donating more than $53 million in software licences to more than 3,500 organizations in fiscal year 2023.[7] The eligibility criteria are:[7]
| Applicant | Criteria | Subscription |
|---|---|---|
| Social impact startup | Less than six years old; 10 or fewer employees; annual revenue under US$1 million; work in a social or environmental impact area | Three-year subscriptions |
| Nonprofit | 501(c)(3) or equivalent; non-discrimination policy; annual operating budget under US$10 million | One-year renewable subscriptions |
See Technology Impact Program and Technology Impact Program: startup and nonprofit eligibility thresholds.
Virtualization & partitioning
Educational Network and Educational Multi-seat Stand-alone Offerings are tied to a specific release and to the permitted number of servers or computers in the Offering Identification. Multi-seat Stand-alone copies may not be accessed “through a network connection of any kind”.[1] Education Single User follows the same Autodesk ID sign-in model as commercial Single User.
Cloud / BYOL
Autodesk may cap or limit Cloud Credit use under free Education Offerings without notice. A stated allocation “does not imply continued rights to such levels”.[1] No bring-your-own-licence right applies to Education Offerings.
Programs
- Education plan
- Fusion for startups (catalog SKU Autodesk Fusion for startups)
- Technology Impact Program
Public educational institutions in the United States and Canada have a governing-law clause of their own: their Education Terms are governed by the law of the state or province where the main campus is located.[1]
Out of scope
- Fusion personal-use (hobbyist) licences, which Autodesk describes separately.
- Options for organizations that do not qualify, such as training providers, which Autodesk describes on separate pages.
- Student competition rules, which are set by each competition.
- Country-specific privacy rules, including FERPA, beyond noting that Autodesk publishes FERPA terms.