Best Internet Plans and Discounts for Students

Do any other internet providers offer student discounts?

Most internet providers have student discounts, especially if you shop in the late summer or fall. They aren’t always easy to find when you check out online, though.

Before you finalize your order, call a sales representative or ask the chatbot about discounts for qualified students. If your local provider doesn’t have student-specific discounts, you might find another discount that works for your situation.

Are there any free internet options for students?

No, free residential internet isn’t widely available for university students, though it may be included in rental fees for dorms or student apartments. Students can usually get free internet on campus too.

If you’re looking for internet for your K–12 student, check out T-Mobile’s Project 10Million. Launched in 2020, it provides a free hotspot and free internet for households eligible for the National School Lunch Program or a similar government program. Students can use 100GB of data per year for five years without paying a dime. Parents can purchase an Android tablet, Windows laptop, or Chromebook through T-Mobile at a discount.

If you’re motivated, there are more ambitious ways of getting around your internet bill, such as constructing a community mesh network. Fortunately, college is an excellent place to make some innovative friends who can pitch in and help.

For more ideas, read more about how to get free internet.

Can I bundle student internet with TV?

Yes, most discounted student internet plans let you add TV service for an extra fee. They may also include free access to streaming services for a limited time.

Xfinity offers student internet plans that include TV services. It also gives you access to shows via the Xfinity Stream app, which offers a rotating selection of television shows. Xfinity also has the X1 TV Box, giving you live TV access when adding to the student internet packages.

If the best internet plan for students doesn’t give you the option to add TV, you can still get a discount on TV through DISH. DISH provides a discount on satellite TV to students, and unlike most internet service providers, DISH is available anywhere in the U.S. You can get discounted satellite TV if you have a place to install a satellite dish.

If Xfinity and DISH aren’t viable options, you may still be able to find great bundle deals from other providers without needing a student plan. We list the best TV and internet bundles from Optimum, Spectrum, and more.

Government internet plans for students

Government programs that help students connect at home are typically based on income and qualification for other food and housing assistance programs. They can help make internet affordable for households on tight budgets, but aren’t specific to either K–12 or college students.

Lifeline

Lifeline is a program provided by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to lower the cost of telephone service, internet service, or a combination of both for low-income households. Qualifying families can receive up to $9.25 in monthly discounts for one service or bundle only.

To qualify, households must have an income that is 135% or below the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participate in federal programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and Federal Public Housing Assistance.

Use the National Verifier application system to see if you qualify for this program.

Enhanced Tribal Benefit

This version of Lifeline is for low-income households on tribal lands. Families can receive a discount of up to $34.25 per month and up to a $100 discount on first-time installation fees. Use the National Verifier application system to see if you qualify.

What to look for in a student internet plan

While cost is often a major factor, make sure your chosen plan meets your educational needs. In the face of tight deadlines, a reliable internet connection is often even more important than a fast connection.

Many factors go into reliability, from disruptions that impact certain kinds of connections to the responsiveness of internet service providers (ISPs) when networks go down.

Studying

Are you looking up information for an assignment or cramming for a test? Fortunately, even long nights full of web surfing don’t require a lot of speed or data. Web pages with text and images only have no issues on a 1Mbps connection. But if you watch a lot of videos, you’ll probably want download speeds closer to 5–25Mbps.

Watching lectures

You will need a reliable connection to watch lectures online. Streaming video can use a lot of download bandwidth, and to participate in the discussion, you’ll need a decent upload speed too. Software like Skype or Zoom will drop your call if your internet speed doesn’t meet the minimum speed requirement.

For example, Zoom can still run on a relatively slow connection, maintaining a 1080p video stream on just 2.5Mbps. But your call could drop if your speed falls below that threshold. A broadband connection usually doesn’t have this problem, but connections with high latency, like satellite internet, might have issues.

If available, use the voice-only option to improve your performance issues.

Uploading assignments

Cable and DSL internet connections can give you fast download speeds but don’t prioritize upload speeds the same way. Slow upload speeds are usually not a problem for tasks like web surfing or video streaming. But if you frequently upload files, get a fiber connection with equal upload and download speeds.

Depending on what you study, the connection speed you need for schoolwork could vary wildly. You can get by on a 1Mbps connection if most of your assignments are papers, but you might want a faster plan if you’re in a field like computer science and need to check and recheck a large codebase. A 10Mbps upload speed can make this an easy process.

If you study something like video production, uploading your big project could take all night, as even some faster types of internet, like cable, often have low upload speeds. Although you can get by with less speed, this can be very frustrating, so we suggest an upload speed of 25Mbps.

Staying connected

Staying connected with friends and family is important when you’re living away from home.

You can usually get by on a 1.5–5Mbps connection for family video calls.

However, you might need a more reliable internet plan (switching from DSL to fiber, for example) or a plan with faster speeds if you experience spotty connections.

Do you use the internet for highly specialized tasks or to relax after a hard day? Find out how much speed you need.

Bottom line: Get Xfinity if it’s available in your area

If you’re a student looking for a cheap, reliable internet plan, look to Xfinity first. It’s one of the most broadly available cable internet providers with explicit student discounts and a wide selection of offers, including bundles with TV.

If Xfinity isn’t available in your area or you want to see if there are better offers elsewhere, Frontier and Verizon also advertise student discounts.

Finally, be sure to look at nonprofits and government programs. There are several programs for helping students connect to the internet and programs to get discounted PCs and laptops. You can even get discounted satellite TV through DISH.

Whether it’s your first year in the dorms, your last year of high school, or your seventh year of grad school, chances are there’s an internet deal that will fit your needs.

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