In 2019, the current version (Option A, below) of the Office Home Use Program will be retired, with the current $14.99 offers expiring June 30.
But on April 9, 2019, a new Office Home Use Program (Option C, below) became available, to get a license for Office 365 Home or Personal at a 30% discount.
Introduction
The Office Home Use Program is available only to current Carleton faculty and staff, not students, alumni, or former employees. The sections below describe this program, as well as alternatives that are available for current students and soon-to-be former employees.
Option A. Faculty and staff (no students), acting before June 30, 2019:
The products available today are Office 2019 Professional Plus for Windows, or Office 2019 Home and Business for Mac. (Optional language packs are available for purchase.) This offer expires June 30, 2019, but the license to use a single copy is valid as long as the licensee is the primary user of a college-owned computer that has Office on it (in any version), and continues to be employed by Carleton College.
Many questions are answered in the detailed FAQ page at: http://www.microsofthup.com/hupus/faq.aspx.
The ordering process
The ordering / download / install process will work best if done from the home computer on which Office is to be installed, using a broadband connection to the Internet.
1. Go to https://hup.microsoft.com/ (If you get a certificate error, try this instead: http://www.microsofthup.com/hupus/home.aspx )
2. Select your country. This will take you to a new page, similar that the one shown below. except the price is now $14.99.
3. Enter your Carleton email address in the field for "Your work email"
4. If you see a text field labeled "Program Code", you need to enter the code that has been assigned to Carleton faculty and staff: 9A127AB503 .
Do not share this code with students or anyone else.
At this point, Microsoft will validate your eligibility and, if eligible, send you an email message. There will be a link in the email message that you click to continue the process. The link is the "Buy Now >> " in green, as shown below.
5. When you click on the link in your email, you will be taken to a web page that looks like this, except the version of Office is 2019:
6. Select the product you want to purchase. You can choose to add language packs later in the process.
7. When you have chosen your version of Office, click on the "Checkout" button. You will be taken to a new page that
looks similar to the one below:
8. On this page, you can choose Language Packs or a backup DVD. Please note that Microsoft charges for each
item you add to your cart. When you are ready, click on the "CHECKOUT" button.
9. Fill in the forms that Microsoft presents. You will need a credit card to complete your order.
10. When you have finished, Microsoft will send you an email receipt with a link, similar to the picture below:
Click on the "Download Link" indicated to download your copy of Office and other software you ordered.
Keep this email! It will be required if you need to reinstall Office or transfer it to another computer.
If you have lost this email, you may be able to recover the information here.
Note - If the images on this page you are reading are different from the look of the Microsoft Home Use Program web pages, that is because Microsoft changes their screens more often than we can keep up with their changes. Hopefully, you will have no trouble if you follow their instructions carefully.
11. Once you have downloaded your software, follow the instructions for installing your software. If you need assistance with
installation, please see Microsoft Office Support. On the left side of the page that appears, click on the words
"Installing, Upgrading and Activating".
12. If you have any questions along the way, please see the following: http://www.microsofthup.com/hupus/faq.aspx
This FAQ includes instructions on how to retrieve a product code from a previous order ("history").
Option B. For current Carleton faculty, staff, and students:
As long as you are affiliated with Carleton (i.e., have a CarlNetID@carleton.edu email address you can log into), use the free subscription for Office 365 Education associated with your CarlNetID@carleton.edu email address. No sign-up is required; in any Web browser, open https://portal.office.com and login using your CarlNetID@carleton.edu login and password. (This is a “Work or school account”, in case you are prompted.)
See this article on Office 365 Education for more information on what is included, how to install the desktop version, and how to access full functionality.
Usability Notes:
- Office 365 expects you to save all your documents in Microsoft OneDrive, which is not the same as Google Drive or Dropbox or your local computer drive. OneDrive is not supported at Carleton, so it will be your responsibility to get documents into and out of OneDrive.
- Office 365 Outlook Online, or the Mail, People, and Calendar apps on smartphones and tablets, do not work well with our Carleton Gmail or Google Calendar.
Option C: For exiting Carleton faculty and staff (no students):
If you are current Carleton faculty or staff, but plan to leave Carleton soon, you can purchase a rough equivalent of the previous option, for you to use with a personal, non-Carleton, email address, for as long as you renew the annual license. But this only works for faculty and staff, and only if you initiate the process while your CarlNetID@carleton.edu email address still works.
To get started, in any Web browser open https://www.microsoft.com/home-use-program and enter your CarlNetID@carleton.edu email address. A while later, check your Carleton email for a new message from Microsoft that may look like the following, with a subject like, "Check out this special discount, just for you" (sounds spam-my, doesn't it?):
The Web browser link under the blue button really is customized just for you (hence your name in the message), and must not be shared. It will take you to a Microsoft login page, where there is one tricky step: Now you must login with a personal, non-Carleton, email address, which will be your Microsoft account.
This will take you to a Web page that shows you save 30% on an annual subscription to either Office 365 Home ($99.99) or Office 365 Personal ($69.99). This discount applies forever, as long as you renew the subscription annually.
The Web page compares the two subscriptions in detail, but Office 365 Home will be the best choice for almost everyone. (Please ignore the section of the page titled, "Other Office Products"; those do not apply.)
To learn more, see the Frequently Asked Questions page here.
Here are the instructions on how to install or reinstall Office 365 purchased through this Home Use Program (HUP).
Carleton does not administer these purchased subscriptions, so all your interactions will be directly with Microsoft.