NC State provides Office 365 licenses to many of its users, but some groups of NC State-affiliated employees are not provided access to Office 365 by default due to the nature of the licensing agreement with Microsoft. 

How is Microsoft 365 Apps for Education licensed?

Due to the cost, only full-time faculty and staff and active students are automatically licensed for M365 A3. The license provides access to login to the online version of Office (www.office.com) and allows the user to download Office to a personal computer.

Part-time faculty and staff, as well as employees who are classified as “No-Pay” and “Temporary” will not receive an M365 A3 license to use on a personal computer unless the department pays for the additional license.

Although “Postdoc” and “Emeritus” do not automatically receive a license, they can request a M365 A3 license to install on a personal computer at no cost.

Can users without an Office 365 license request one?

Employees who do not automatically qualify for a M365 A3 license will have three options for gaining access to Office:

• Vendor Risk & License Management can provide a free M365 A1 license which provides Office 365 and other tools by sending a request to software@ncsu.edu. The only caveat is that it is an online version of Office similar to Google Docs. It can not be downloaded and installed on a computer. There is no licensing cost for this option.
• The user’s IT department can provide the employee with a university-owned computer. With a university-owned device, the enterprise version of Office 365 (Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise), which is typically used in public spaces and does not require a login, can be deployed for the employee’s use. There is no licensing cost for this option.
• The user’s IT department can pay the pro-rated cost for a M365 A3 license for the employee and Vendor Risk & License Management can grant an exception so the employee will have access to Office software on a personal computer.   Please contact Vendor Risk & License Management for current pricing.  The annual cost is $57.03 and will need to be renewed each January to maintain the licensing.  If you would like to request an exception, please provide a Project ID to charge as well as your bookkeeper’s name. Please note that Postdocs and Emeritus can receive an M365 A3 license at no cost by sending a request to software@ncsu.edu.

When do I lose access to my Office 365 account?

• Employees: Access to Office 365 is lost immediately after the last official day of employment in the HR System. Contact your HR for any questions on when this might be
• Students: Access to Office 365 is lost within 30 days of graduation. Please note that it may be sooner than 30 days, so it is best to transfer/backup anything needed before graduation.