Microsoft gives 4 million Brazilian students a free copy of Office 365

Microsoft has signed a deal with the Sao Paolo State Department of Education which will see more than 4 million Brazilian students benefiting from a free copy of Office 365. Based on the price of individual subscriptions, this represents an investment of around $900 million — the largest educational offering Microsoft has ever made.

The free software is being made available through the Student Advantage program and will enable students to install Microsoft Office ProPlus on up to five of their own devices, including mobiles and tablets.

The only requirement is that an educational institute must already have an Office 365 ProPlus or Office Professional Plus license for its administrative and faculty staff. The Department of Education is understandably happy at the agreement:

“Our commitment is to take permanent actions to ensure that our students have access to technological resources that are a fundamental part of their preparation. The agreement is part of the initiatives being implemented by the SEE to offer digital tools linked to the state curriculum,” said the Secretary of State, Herman Voorwald.

Mariano de Beer, managing director of Microsoft Brazil, said “We are thrilled to offer Student Advantage to Brazilian schools so students can access the latest, most up-to-date version of the world’s leading set of productivity tools in order to give them a competitive advantage when entering the workforce.”