Microsoft 365 access now free to students, faculty and staff at all 10 University of Hawaiʻi campuses

Students, faculty and staff at the University of Hawaiʻi now have free access to Microsoft 365, one of several technology improvements underway across the university’s 10 campuses.

The new Microsoft@UH service is supported by UH’s Strategic Initiative Fund and provides Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneDrive cloud storage.

The project also includes Microsoft Copilot Chat, an artificial intelligence tool that helps users summarize information, brainstorm ideas, create content and analyze data.

“By approaching technology investments as one university system, we’re able to stretch our resources further and deliver better services across all 10 campuses,” said Brad Christ, UH vice president for information technology and chief information officer, in a news release.

Under a new systemwide agreement, UH qualifies for Microsoft’s second-highest discount tier, reducing licensing costs to the university by nearly 15%. This allows UH to provide Microsoft 365 at no cost to all eligible students, faculty and staff for about the same cost previously spent on limited faculty and staff coverage.

Other IT projects are underway that support UH’s Common Standard of Care initiative:

• Faster Wi-Fi under a $5 million investment that will install or replace nearly 3,900 wireless access points campuswide by late summer 2027.
• Free GitHub Enterprise access that will provide access to the industry-leading software development platform, allowing students and faculty to host, manage and collaborate on software projects, documentation and digital assets.

“This is exactly what we mean by creating a Common Standard of Care across our 10 campuses,” UH President Wendy Hensel said. “Every student and employee deserves access to the tools and technology they need to succeed, regardless of which campus they attend or work at.”