There's no ChatGPT student discount you can claim right now. OpenAI's 2026 Back to School offer gave eligible U.S. college and graduate students four free monthly billing periods of ChatGPT Plus, but its help page says you had to claim it by October 31, 2026, so as of Nov 2026 that window has closed. The student offer still described on OpenAI's help pages is a separate one: Codex credits for verified university students in the United States and Canada.
I'd rather tell you that plainly than send you hunting for a code that doesn't exist. Below is what the offer was, how the claim worked, the account and billing rules worth knowing if OpenAI runs it again, and what's left for students, all taken from OpenAI's own Help Center pages.
The two student offers side by side
| Offer | Who | What you get | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Back to School offer | Current full-time and part-time college and graduate students at eligible U.S. degree-granting institutions | Four free monthly billing periods of ChatGPT Plus, including ChatGPT Work and other Plus features | Claim deadline was October 31, 2026; then it renews at $20 per month unless you cancel |
| Codex credits for students | Current students at degree-granting universities in the United States or Canada, living there when they claim | $100 in credits to use in Codex, shown as 2,500 credits | Credits expire 12 months after the grant date and aren't API credits |
Both figures are as of Nov 2026 and come straight from OpenAI's help pages.
Why you can't claim the Back to School offer now
The offer terms on OpenAI's help page are short and specific: claim by October 31, 2026, redeem once, and the four free monthly billing periods start on the claim date. The page had been updated only days before I checked it on 1 Nov 2026 and still lists that deadline, so the claim window has passed. If you claimed in time, your free months run from your own claim date, not from the deadline.
One detail in students' favour: for this offer, OpenAI's FAQ said taking part in an earlier student promotion didn't by itself stop you claiming. Your ChatGPT account didn't need to use your school email either.
How the claim worked
- Open the Back to School offer page in a web or mobile web browser.
- Sign in to the ChatGPT account where you want the offer applied.
- Follow the SheerID prompts to verify your current enrolment. Depending on your school, SheerID may check trusted records, ask you to sign in through your school's single sign-on, or request supporting documents.
- Return to the offer flow and complete activation.
- Add a valid payment method if you're starting a new Plus subscription.
SheerID, not OpenAI, decided whether your school and enrolment counted. That's worth remembering if a future round appears: the check is about enrolment, not about which email sits on your ChatGPT account.
Account and billing traps
- The signed-in account is the one that gets it. The SheerID email can differ from your ChatGPT email, and the offer lands on whichever ChatGPT account is signed in during the claim. OpenAI says it can't change the account a promotion was applied to afterwards.
- App store billing blocks it. New users and existing monthly Plus subscribers billed directly by ChatGPT could claim. Subscriptions billed through the Apple App Store or Google Play weren't supported while they stayed store-billed.
- It needs a card. A valid payment method was required to activate it. You weren't charged during the free periods, but afterwards the subscription renews at $20 per month unless you cancel. Here's what ChatGPT Plus includes at full price.
- Verified but not applied. OpenAI's fix is to sign in to the same account that entered the offer flow, open the offer link again and select Claim free offer. That either takes you to checkout or shows which account the promo is on.
Cancelling before the free months end
This one matters if you claimed in time and you're on your free months now. If you cancel, your Plus access continues until the end of the current monthly billing period, and any remaining promotional months are forfeited when the cancellation takes effect. So cancelling early doesn't bank the rest for later. It throws them away.
If you don't want to pay once the offer ends, set a reminder a few days before your last free period finishes and decide then. Here's how to cancel ChatGPT step by step when you're ready.
Codex credits for students in the US and Canada
This is the student offer still on OpenAI's help pages as of Nov 2026, and it's a different thing altogether. OpenAI offers verified university students in the United States and Canada $100 in credits to use in Codex. The rules:
- You must be a current student at a degree-granting university in the United States or Canada, and living in one of those countries when you claim.
- You need a ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus or Pro plan. The credits extend your Codex usage beyond your plan's limits.
- Your balance shows on the usage page as 2,500 credits, which equals $100.
- Credits expire 12 months after the grant date, and there's one credit offer per student.
- They're ChatGPT credits, not API credits, and they can't be shared, transferred or sold.
- If your account has several workspaces, credits go to the personal workspace tied to your EDU verification, not a separate Gmail or Yahoo workspace.
You can claim with your personal ChatGPT account, but you'll still verify your student status with your university email. If you want to know what Codex gives you before any credits, this is what free Codex includes.
If SheerID won't verify you
OpenAI's Codex credits page explains that SheerID ties verification to your personal details, meaning your name, school and date of birth, not your email. So if you verify on one account and then try again from another with the same details, you may see a Verification Limit Exceeded message. OpenAI's advice is to log back in with the account you verified with and return to the student offer page.
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OpenAI also says it can't reset SheerID verification or move your eligibility to a different account. If SheerID can't verify your enrolment at all, the SheerID support form is the place for verification problems, school listings and document reviews.
What I'd do as a student
I'd check OpenAI's offer page once in case a new round appears, and skip any site promising a ChatGPT student code, because the offer ran through OpenAI's own offer page and SheerID. If you're in the US or Canada and you code, the Codex credits are worth claiming, from the account you plan to keep. If you ever land a free-months deal, set a calendar reminder before the free months end. For discounts on other tools, my list of student discount apps is a better use of your time than a code site. Vendor offers change often, so check OpenAI's own help page for the latest.
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Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT Plus free for students right now?
No. As of Nov 2026, the Back to School offer of four free monthly billing periods had a claim deadline of October 31, 2026, so it can't be claimed now.
What happened after the four free monthly billing periods?
The subscription renews at $20 per month unless you cancel. If you cancel early, the remaining promotional months are forfeited.
Can I move the student offer to another ChatGPT account?
No. OpenAI says it can't change the account a promotion was applied to, so it stays on whichever account was signed in during the claim.
Are the Codex student credits API credits?
No. They're ChatGPT credits that extend Codex usage beyond your plan's limits, shown as 2,500 credits and expiring 12 months after the grant date.
