Through the Microsoft Campus Agreement (MSCA), MIT faculty, staff, students, and affiliates have varying levels of access to acquire Microsoft software at no cost or discounted pricing:
- Microsoft 365 (including Office)
- Windows operating system upgrades (including virtualized OS upgrades)
- Windows Server software and Client Access Licenses
In all cases, license to use software covered by this agreement terminates upon the user’s separation from the Institute. MIT-licensed software must be uninstalled and usage must cease upon separation from the Institute (faculty and staff) or graduation (students).
Microsoft 365 (Office), Windows OS upgrades, and client access
All students, staff, faculty, and affiliates with an active MIT Kerberos account may use Microsoft Office Online by signing into office.com using an @mit.edu email address, and authenticating through Touchstone.
For Office, Windows upgrades*, and server client access, our license covers use by:
- Faculty, staff, and students on an MIT-owned computer if installed by faculty or staff
- Faculty and staff on one personally-owned computer used for MIT purposes
- Students on one personally-owned machine while enrolled
MIT’s license also includes terms covering virtualized use of Office and Windows.
Virtualized Office:
- Faculty and staff can run one instance on an MIT-owned computer
- Students can run one instance on a personally-owned computer while enrolled
Virtualized Windows OS*:
- Faculty and staff can run up to four instances on an MIT-owned computer
- Students can run up to four instances on one personally-owned computer while enrolled
| Microsoft 365 (Office) | Windows OS Upgrades | Virtualized Office | Virtualized Windows | |||||
| MIT Role | MIT-owned computer | Personally-owned computer | MIT-owned computer | Personally-owned computer | MIT-owned computer | Personally-owned computer | MIT-owned computer | Personally-owned computer |
| Student | Yes, if installed by faculty or staff | Yes, while enrolled | Yes, if installed by faculty or staff | Yes, while enrolled | n/a | Yes, one instance while enrolled | n/a | Yes, up to four instances while enrolled |
| Faculty and Staff | Yes | Yes, one if used for MIT purposes | Yes | Yes, one if used for MIT purposes | Yes, one instance | No | Yes, up to four instances | No |
| Affiliate | Yes, if installed by faculty or staff | Office Online only | No | No | No | No | No | No |
For more information on Virtualization (VMware), see the Knowledge Base.
*Note: Machines purchased without an OS ("White Box" machines), or machines purchased with Linux as their only OS, are not eligible for use of the MIT Windows upgrade license.
Windows OS Server software
MIT offers Windows OS Server, MS SQL Server, and MS SQL client access licenses to departments, labs, centers, and institutes (DLCIs). DLCI staff or faculty who wish to obtain a Windows OS Server product under the MSCA should send questions or inquiries to ops-help@mit.edu.