Status: Announced. Changes apply at each institution's first renewal, extension or new agreement on or after 1 January 2028, and existing agreements run to the end of their term.
What Microsoft announced
Microsoft called it "the most significant update to the Microsoft 365 Education portfolio in more than a decade". The parts that matter for planning are:
- Office 365 A1 retires on 1 January 2028. It stopped being sold through the web direct channel on 5 November 2026. Sales through partners, including Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) and Volume Licensing, end on 1 May 2027.
- The Student Use Benefit retires on 1 January 2028 across all education purchasing programs. This is the program that gives students free licences based on the number of paid staff licences.
- Free Exchange Online for Alumni retires on 1 January 2028. Microsoft says institutions that want to keep the service should move those users to a new paid alumni offer.
- A new free student offer, Microsoft 365 Education A0. It includes Office desktop and web apps. Microsoft's wording is that "Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Teams aren't included". It is only for institutions where all staff are on a paid A2 licence or higher, and for students who use Windows devices for learning.
- The 100 TB base storage allocation is removed at the first renewal or extension on or after 1 January 2028. Storage stays pooled across the tenant, but the pool then comes only from paid licences. For example, A3 adds 8 GB per student and 75 GB per staff licence.
Microsoft says "Existing agreements, pricing, licenses, and entitlements remain in effect through the end of the current term." Separate pricing changes for online services bought through academic Volume Licensing apply at the first renewal or extension on or after 1 May 2027.
What it means for your migration
For many schools this turns a licensing change into a migration project. Students who move to A0 lose their mailbox, Teams and SharePoint access, and the tenant may have far less storage than it uses today.
- Find your renewal date. Nothing changes until your first renewal, extension or new agreement on or after 1 January 2028. That date is your real deadline. Microsoft's portfolio page and FAQ word the A1 enrolment cut-off slightly differently, so confirm with your partner or account team how it applies to your agreement.
- Count who is on what. List every user on Office 365 A1, the Student Use Benefit and alumni email. Our licence mapping template helps you map each group to its future licence.
- Check storage now. Compare what OneDrive and SharePoint use today with the pool your paid licences will give you after the 100 TB base goes. Microsoft lists upgrading, buying storage packs in 10 TB lots, cleaning up content or moving inactive content to Microsoft 365 Archive as options.
- Plan for student mail and files. If students will move to A0, decide where their email and files go before renewal. That might be a paid licence, an export for leavers, or another platform. Moving thousands of mailboxes takes time, so build it into a wave plan.
- Decide on alumni email. Choose between the paid alumni offer, forwarding or a clean exit, and tell alumni well ahead. Our communication plan template can help.