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Educator Developer Blog
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Step-by-Step: Setting Up GitHub Student and GitHub Copilot as an Authenticated Student Developer

Lee_Stott's avatar
Lee_Stott
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Feb 07, 2023

To set up Copilot as an authenticated Github Student Developer, you need to follow these steps:
GitHub Copilot - Visual Studio Marketplace - GitHub Copilot provides autocomplete-style suggestions from an AI pair programmer as you code. You can receive suggestions from GitHub Copilot either by starting to write the code you want to use, or by writing a natural language comment describing what you want the code to do.


To set up Copilot as an authenticated Github Student Developer, you need to follow these steps:

Setting up your GitHub Student Account

  1. Create a GitHub account: If you don't already have one, create a GitHub account. GitHub account is free, so if you have not signed up yet feel free to sign up as it is a prerequisite before you can access the Student Developer Pack. https://education.github.com
  2.  Verify your student status on GitHub: Go to the GitHub Student Developer Pack and verify your student status on GitHub: https://education.github.com/pack

There are over 100 benefits from various companies that are packed together in the GitHub students developers pack. The GitHub student’s developer pack is strictly for students. Therefore before you can access it you would prove your student identity through your school registered email domain or through an identification process for people whose school doesn't offer school email.

The steps below are for students with school emails. If you do not have a school-dedicated email, you can still access the GitHub student developer pack by contacting GitHub Support @  support.github.com/request.

  • Step 1: Visit the student developer Pack main page (education.github.com/pack)
  • Step 2: Sign Up for the student developer pack
  • Step 3: Select Get Student Benefit
  • Step 4: Sign-in or SignUp for a GitHub account.
  • Step 5: Add your school email. This process usually needs some authentication, because a code will be sent to your school email for verification.
  • Step 6: Enter the name of your school
  • Step 7: Answer the questions on how you plan to use GitHub.
  • Step 8: On some occasions, more proof might be required. So you might need to upload either of school identity card or any other form of proof of study validity.
  • Final step: Submit the application.

Submitted applications are sometimes reviewed within the hour or at most within a day. This might take slightly longer on very few occasions depending on the volume of applications received.

 

Setting Up Copilot

Connect Copilot to Github: Go to the Copilot website and log in. Then, go to the Settings section and connect your Github account to Copilot. https://copilot.github.com 

 

 

 

 

Note: If you already have a Copilot account, you can simply connect your Github account and activate your Github Student Developer Pack from your Copilot account settings.

You should now be able to use Copilot with your Github Student Developer Pack benefits.

Resources from GitHub education.

GitHub Education is a program established by GitHub for students, teachers, and schools. The benefits of GitHub education to students and educators. The GitHub education has offers for students such as:

  1. GitHub Student Developer Pack  (100s of FREE Software offers including $100 of Azure for Student Credit)
  2. GitHub Codespaces your instant dev environment in the cloud with 90 hours of compute time.
  3. GitHub Student Gallery  (Platform where students showcase the projects they built with GitHub Student developer pack)
  4. GitHub Campus Experts  (A program for students and educators who are building a student community in their schools. GitHub supports you in a lot of ways)
  5. GitHub Global Campus(Like the name illustrates, a global campus for students to learn and connect)
  6. GitHub Learning Lab  (Free platform to grow your skill by completing fun and realistic projects)

Extensions for VSCode and Codespaces RECOMMENDED

GitHub Copilot - Visual Studio Marketplace - GitHub Copilot provides autocomplete-style suggestions from an AI pair programmer as you code. You can receive suggestions from GitHub Copilot either by starting to write the code you want to use, or by writing a natural language comment describing what you want the code to do.

 

Updated Oct 18, 2024
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  • Bethel-mmadu's avatar
    Bethel-mmadu
    Copper Contributor
    May 29, 2023

    Hello, i am a verified student but i can not find the option to use github copilot for free

  • byu99's avatar
    byu99
    Copper Contributor
    Jun 27, 2023

    Hi, how long would it take for the benefits to be available? I was verified 5 days ago but I still do not see an option to connect copilot to github.

  • Sagacitas's avatar
    Sagacitas
    Copper Contributor
    Oct 02, 2023

    Hello all, I was wondering if there are any indications that MS will invite students to in-person conferences or events. I am the founder and President of the Google Developer Student Clubs @ Cal Poly Pomona, and we would be thrilled to assemble a group to attend in-person events. We also have several more CS and CIS clubs on campus with which we can share this information. I am particularly interested in the GitHub Univers Conference this year. This may not be the right place to ask, but perhaps someone can point me in the right direction. 

     

    Best, Jason 

  • GaganHonor's avatar
    GaganHonor
    Copper Contributor
    Jan 23, 2024

    But our college dont provide .edu emails 😞 But ....its my dream to get this and learn

  • caldwelljt's avatar
    caldwelljt
    Copper Contributor
    Feb 14, 2024

    I can't seem to figure out what I am doing wrong. I've had a github account for a while and even tested copilot about a year or so ago but didn't do much with it. I then returned to school and am now in a programming class, so I thought I would try out the student program and actually try to use github copilot, however it doesn't seem to work. I applied and from what I understand I completed the signup process (see the two pics below from the school signup page), however I see no reference to the school beyond the email addresses that I added for both colleges, and whenever I open VSCode, I get the error below. Any attempt to add copilot to my account on the website sends me to a payment screen. Is there something else that I need to do to accept the student account or to apply it to my github account?

     

    I've rebooted, waited a couple days, uninstalled/reinstalled, nothing other than the student signup page seems to indicate that I have anything to do with the school.

     

    Note: I had to go through it twice because the first time I didn't have my school ID handy, and even though it says I can use a screenshot, all it would offer was the ability to use my webcam. However, it is impossible to point the webcam back at my own screen (or simply upload a file attachment) to demonstrate my schedule (or any of the other things in the list). I eventually waited till I could get my school ID to submit it and then it showed the below "accepted" messages. That's the last thing that happened, then like I said, nothing in my github profile (other than the school email addresses) seems to indicate I am a member of a school organization or have any student package. I then waited a couple days, however it's been two days and github copilot still will not work.

     

     

     

  • sidc_ai's avatar
    sidc_ai
    Copper Contributor
    Apr 30, 2024

    Thank you Lee_Stott for this, enrolled into a new course, and was able to use this to get access to GitHub CoPilot. Already love the pair programmer teaching me concepts on the fly. 

  • Arman325's avatar
    Arman325
    Copper Contributor
    May 31, 2024

    Hello every one Arman Here, i am a career shifter, lets help each other..