Microsoft Licenses

MSU provides Microsoft licenses for departmental use under an Enrollment for Education Solution (EES). The annual licensing agreement covers departments and the MSU community.

Obtaining Office 365 A3 software

Individual MSU students, faculty, researchers and staff can follow the below steps to install up to 5 copies of the Office 365 Pro Plus Software (A3) on their departmental or personally owned machines.

Note: MSU faculty, researchers, and staff should contact their local IT before installing any software on a departmentally owned machine. These licenses are intended for use in activities related to MSU working, teaching, and learning.

Office 365 A3 for Windows and Mac, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Each student can download Office 365 A3 on up to five computers (Windows or Apple iOS), five tablets (Windows, Apple iOS, and/or Android), and five smartphones.

  1. Visit spartan365.msu.edu.
  2. Login using MSU NetID and new password credentials.
  3. Click on “Office 365” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
  4. Follow the prompts on the screen to download and install Office 365 A3.

Temporary, On-Call or No Pay individuals

Temporary, On-Call or No Pay individuals do not receive Office 365 A3, but do receive an A1 license. Departments, however, can purchase an annual subscription for these individuals from the MSU Tech Store, (517) 432-0700 at https://techstore.msu.edu/search/node/a3.

Microsoft Office 365 Applications License Comparison

Outlook

Word

Excel

PowerPoint

OneNote

Publisher

A3

 Desktop/Web Desktop/Web Desktop/Web Desktop/Web Desktop/Web Desktop/Web (PC only)

A1

 Web App Web App Web App Web App Web App

Access

Exchange

OneDrive

SharePoint

Teams

Sway

A3

 Desktop/Web (PC only) Web App Desktop/Web Web App Web App Web App

A1

 Web App Web App Web App Web App

Forms

Stream

Flow

PowerApps

Bookings

A3

 Web App Web App Web App Web App Web App (by request for faculty/staff only)

A1

 Web App Web App Web App

 

Department Use

All MSU departments may also use licenses on departmentally owned machines for:

  • Office 2019 as needed until the newest version can be installed (includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access on PC version, Publisher on PC version)
  • Windows OS Upgrades (There must be a current Windows OS on your system to use the upgrade license. Can upgrade a Home version to Pro or Enterprise.)
  • Windows Server

Licenses are based on the current version of the software, though it’s possible to downgrade to a previous version.

NOTE: It’s important to keep software up to date so security issues inherent with outdated software or systems aren’t exploited. Read more on SecureIT about safeguarding your devices and systems. Also read through the checklists for setting up and patching systems and servers.

Obtaining Other Software

  • To obtain software:
    • Departments
    • Individuals
      • Licenses for individual users can be purchased through the MSU Technology Store.
      • A free copy of Windows 10 education is available for students at no cost from onthehub.com. This software is valid for the life of the computer.

Departments only need to download the media once for use with all licenses ordered within their unit. Faculty and staff should contact their main IT department before ordering media as they may already have a copy of the software for use.

All licenses are on an annual subscription for the life of this MSU agreement; they are not perpetual.

Licenses are based on the current version of the software, though it’s possible to downgrade to a previous version.

NOTE: It’s important to keep software up to date so security issues inherent with outdated software or systems aren’t exploited. Read more on SecureIT about safeguarding your devices and systems. Also read through the checklists for setting up and patching systems and servers.

For server licenses, all versions (Data Center, Enterprise, Standard) may be used. It is also possible to downgrade to a previous version.