Tech is expensive, and every year, without fail, it gets more expensive. In recent years Silicon Valley execs and startup co-founders have realized that with tech being so expensive, they are losing out on their biggest consumer: the youth. To combat this dejection that students feel when they see a price tag the size of their bank account, companies have started to offer what is known as “Student Discounts,” and before you get ahead of yourself, no, not high school students. These discounts, available to anyone employed by, or enrolled at a college/university, can vary from 25% off a new keyboard to 15% off a brand-new MacBook Pro. To a broke college student living off of ramen and energy drinks, that 15% can mean the world.*

Now what you might be asking yourself is, how do I, a high school student, get these discounts? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the short answer is that you can’t. But fret not; that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to score amazing deals at the stores you love if you haven’t sold your soul to J.P Morgan so they’d cover your ever-increasing student loans. For most, if not all, student discounts, all you need is a .edu email. How do you get one, you may ask? Well, it’s a little bit tricky. Many schools offer summer programs for prospective high school students, some of which provide students who qualify to enroll in those programs their very own .edu address. One example of these schools would be Georgetown University; by applying to their Summer Hoya programs and paying only a 50$ application fee, you receive a @georgetown.edu email address, which grants you access to the most popular student discounts, some of which I’ve mentioned above.

These tech discounts, while not readily available to high school students, are life-saving for college students, and for seniors at WHS who will be heading off to college in the fall of 2023, knowing in advance about these discounts can be a surefire way to get their first year of college off to a good start.

Most student discounts are found and accessed through unidays.org.

*The origins of student discounts are not easily traceable; this information is a conjecture based on research on economic trends and business practices.