OpenAI is giving eligible U.S. college students four months of ChatGPT Plus and Work for free. That is an $80 value, and claiming it takes about two minutes.
THE CLAIM LINK
Tap it, sign in, verify. Claim by October 31, 2026.
The plan · 4 steps · about 2 minutes
- 1Open the offer page
- 2Sign in to the ChatGPT account you want it on
- 3Verify your student status with SheerID
- 4Activate the four free months
Before you start
Who qualifies
Current full-time and part-time students at U.S. degree-granting colleges and universities. Graduate students count.
What you get
Four free monthly billing periods of ChatGPT Plus, including ChatGPT Work and every other Plus feature.
Claim deadline
October 31, 2026. Your four months begin on the day you claim.
What You're Actually Getting
This is OpenAI's 2026 back-to-school offer. Verify that you are a student and your ChatGPT account gets four free months of ChatGPT Plus, the $20-a-month plan. Plus includes ChatGPT Work, which is the part that matters for school: instead of answering questions, it does the task. Upload a lecture recording or your notes and it hands back a full study guide. Give it a topic and it builds the presentation. Switch to voice mode and it quizzes you out loud like a professor would.
- Who qualifies: Current full-time and part-time students at U.S. degree-granting colleges and universities. Graduate students count.
- What you get: Four free monthly billing periods of ChatGPT Plus, including ChatGPT Work and every other Plus feature.
- Deadline: Claim by October 31, 2026. Once claimed, your four months run from that day.
- Cost: $0 for four months. Then it renews at $20 per month unless you cancel.
- School email needed: Only to verify. Your ChatGPT account can use any email, including a personal Gmail address.
- Already on Plus: You can still claim if ChatGPT bills you directly. App Store or Google Play subscriptions do not work. Cancel there first, wait for the billing period to end, then claim.
- Claim limit: Once per person.
Maverick's tip
The four months start the day you claim, not the day you enroll. Claim before the October 31 cutoff to get the full stretch through finals.
How To Claim It
Step 1: Open The Offer Page
Go to chatgpt.com/students/2026 in a normal browser on your laptop or phone. You will see the headline “Study. Build. Launch. Get 4 months of ChatGPT Work on us.” Click the black Claim free offer button.
If you are using a VPN, turn it off first. The verification page blocks VPNs.
Step 2: Sign In To The ChatGPT Account You Want It On
If you are not signed in, ChatGPT asks you to log in or create an account. Use the account you actually use every day. This is the account the offer gets attached to, and it does not need to use your school email.
After signing in, you will see a spinner that says “Verifying your student status. This may take a minute. Please keep this page open.” Leave it alone for a few seconds.
Step 3: Fill In The Verification Form
A form loads with your ChatGPT email at the top and five fields:
- School: Start typing and pick your school from the dropdown. If it is not listed, use the fixes below.
- First name / Last name: Enter your name exactly as it appears on your official school records. Nicknames fail.
- Date of birth: This is used for verification only.
- Email address: Use your school-issued email, such as .edu or your school's domain. This is the one field where a personal email will not work.
- Consent checkbox: Tick it so SheerID, the verification company, can check your enrollment.
Then click Verify student status.
Maverick's tip
SheerID may match you instantly against enrollment records, send you to your school's sign-in page, or ask for a current class schedule, enrollment letter, or tuition receipt. Instant matches take seconds. Document reviews usually arrive by email within a day or two.
Step 4: Activate
Once verified, you are sent back into ChatGPT to turn on the offer. If you are new to Plus, it asks for a payment method. Add one. You are not charged during the four free months. It is there so the subscription can continue at $20 per month afterward if you keep it.
If you already pay for Plus directly through ChatGPT, the four free months get applied to your existing subscription. Open a new chat and you should see the Plus features and the Chat / Work switch at the top.
Maverick's tip
Right after activating, put a reminder in your phone for about three months and three weeks from today titled “ChatGPT Plus renews at $20.” If it is earning its keep by then, keep it. If not, cancel a few days before the fourth month ends.
If Verification Fails
Almost every failed claim comes down to one of these. Fix it and try again. You can rerun the form.
- “Unable to verify” appears instantly: Your name or date of birth may not match school records. Use your full legal name, with no nickname and no middle name unless the school has it, then retry.
- Your school is not in the dropdown: Try its official long name, such as “University of Arizona” instead of “UofA.” If it is still missing, use the SheerID support form linked from the offer page FAQ and ask for it to be added.
- You are asked for a document: Upload a current class schedule, enrollment verification letter, or tuition receipt showing your name, school, and current term dates. A student portal screenshot works if it shows all three.
- The page will not load or mentions a VPN: Turn off your VPN and any campus proxy, then reload chatgpt.com/students/2026.
- You subscribed through the App Store: Cancel in the App Store or Google Play, keep using Plus until that period ends, then return and claim before October 31.
- The offer says it was already redeemed: It is limited to one claim per person. If you claimed it on another ChatGPT account, that is where it lives.
Maverick's tip
Only use the official link, chatgpt.com/students/2026. Anyone selling “student ChatGPT accounts” or asking for your login to “verify” you is a scam. The real flow never asks for your ChatGPT password on a third-party site.
Three Things To Try On Day One
Switch to Work at the top of ChatGPT for the first two. Use Voice, the headphone icon, for the third.
Turn A Lecture Into A Study Guide
“Here's my lecture recording and slides [attach]. Build a full study guide: key concepts, definitions, worked examples, and 20 practice questions with answers.”
Build The Presentation
“Turn these notes [attach] into a 10-slide presentation for my [class] with speaker notes for each slide.”
Get Grilled Before The Exam
In voice mode: “You're my professor for [course]. Quiz me out loud on [chapters], one question at a time, and don't move on until I get it right.”
Claim The Offer
Eighty dollars, two minutes, one link. Go to chatgpt.com/students/2026 and claim it by October 31, 2026.