Students should take advantage of every discount they can. College students have a tall order to fill as they pay thousands of dollars in tuition and books while needing the essentials that come with moving away from home.
From mini-fridges to new laptops, Best Buy has everything students need for the school year.
Does Best Buy Have Student Discount?
Best Buy offers a student discount to college students. To enroll in the Program, you must be a My Best Buy member and be actively enrolled in at least one full course at a post-secondary institution. Unfortunately, it is not available to high school students.
As a student, you don’t have much money to spare and yet sometimes you need quality tech for classes.
Or, sometimes you just want to upgrade to the best tech available. Best Buy has tons of products with a student discount.
You can even get Apple products and, if Best Buy doesn’t have a deal for the product you want, you can take advantage of their price match to get deals on pretty much anything.
Who Can Get Student Discount at Best Buy?
The Best Buy student discount is available to students of all ages. According to the Best Buy site, “From grade school through trade school or college, Best Buy can help you prepare for the year ahead.”
Even though you must be at least 18 years old to register for the student discount, students under that age can have their parents sign up for them.
Students must be enrolled in a primary, secondary or post-secondary educational institution to qualify.
College students must be enrolled in at least one course at a post-secondary educational institution (so trade schools also count). You can check if your school is accredited at the Federal Student Aid site.
What Do I Need to Get Student Discount at Best Buy?
The Best Buy student discount requires a Best Buy account to receive deals. You cannot share the student deals with family and friends, and each offer is only available for one deal.
You will have to provide proof of your enrollment and may be asked to renew proof. Here are 5 examples of what you can submit for proof of enrollment:
- Student ID card
- Class schedule
- Official enrollment letter
- Registration receipt
- Official school document with your name and enrollment
Typically, companies will require you to renew proof of enrollment annually. However, Best Buy does not officially state how often they require school enrollment verification.
So, if you graduate or leave for a semester you will not be eligible to renew the discount and note that you can lose your discount as soon as you graduate.
However, even after you graduate you will still be eligible for a regular Best Buy membership and will receive new Member Deals each month.
Limitation on Best Buy Student Discount
The student discount is available at all U.S. or Puerto Rico locations as well as online.
Note that the Best Buy student discount is not available at Best Buy Express kiosks, through dealers, and has no cash value. The student deal also cannot be combined with Best Buy’s price-matched items.
How Much is the Best Buy Student Discount
The average student discount at Best Buy is in the range of 10 to 30% off. The Best Buy student discount isn’t a flat discount but gives you deals and offers on specific items.
So, it’s more like having a coupon than a discount. Each item will be marked down on an offer under Member Deals on the Best Buy website.
The Member Deals are only available to eligible shoppers signed up for a Best Buy account. When you verify your student status with Best Buy, they also list student offers on the Member Deals page.
The Best Buy student discount cannot be combined with other offers or coupons and does not include special order, clearance, refurbished or pre-owned items.
How to Get the Best Buy Student Discount
Students or parents of students can sign up to get the Best Buy student discount. Here is 6 simple steps to sign up:
- Go to bestbuy.com
- Sign In under Account or create a new Best Buy account
- Sign up for Student Deals
- Provide your student information
- Name
- Email (preferably college email if applicable)
- Phone number
- School
- Graduation date
- Best Buy uses a third-party verification system to check your school enrollment
- Automatically get Student Deal offers on your Member Offers page once you’re approved
The process should be automatic, but if you have any problems with the enrollment you can call Best Buy at (888) 237-8289.
As soon as you sign up, you will get an email with student deals available. You will also see the Student Deals on the Members Offers page immediately.
You can redeem the discount online or at any U.S. Best Buy store. However, you can only redeem deals once.
To buy an item online with the Best Buy student discount, you can shop from the Members Offers page.
- Go to your Member Offers page
- Scroll through the deals. Anything with the Student Deals icon is part of the Best Buy student benefits
- Find the product you want and click Shop Now
- Select Add to Cart
- When you’re ready to checkout, click Go to Cart
- Select in-store Pick Up or Shipping
- Enter your address and click Continue to Payment Information
- Find the My Best Buy Offers and Rewards and make sure to hit Apply (do not skip this step or you won’t get the discount!)
- Finish by clicking Place Your Order
What Can You Buy With the Student Discount
Students can buy these items at Best Buy with a discount:
- Laptops
- 2-in-1s
- Tablets
- Networking and wireless
- Printers
- Ink and toner
- Flash drives
- Hard drives
- Electronic accessories
- Smartphones
- Smartwatches
- Espresso machines
- Mini fridges
- Blenders
- Headphones
- Speakers
- Video Games
- Movies
- TVs
However, availability varies by store and online and in-store options may also differ.
Currently, Best Buy has some member deals on TVs, Apple Fitness+, and major appliances. Here are a few examples of the deals I saw when I signed up for the Best Buy member account, however, there is a lot more available to students.
| Product | Member Price |
| SmartCast TV 50” | $289 ($10 off) |
| SmartCast TV 34” | $169 ($10 off) |
| Apple Fitness+ 2 month membership | Free |
| Apple Music 4 month membership | Free |
| Stainless Steel microwave | $719 ($80 off) |
According to several Best Buy shoppers that use the student discount, the best time of year for Best Buy student discount deals are around back to school time in July, August, and September.
You will get monthly deals but typically the high-ticket and best items are sold around that time.
Can You Get Cheaper Price Than Student Discount at Best Buy?
If you want to get cheaper prices than student discounts, you can consider pre-owned items. Best Buy’s price is normally the same as the official store’s website, but sometimes they have pre-owned items in good condition that has discounts. For an example:
MacBook Air Price:
- MacBook Air at Apple.com starting from $999
- MacBook Air at Best Buy starting from $999
- Pre-Owned MacBook Air at Best Buy starting from $899
MacBook Pro Price:
- MacBook Pro at Apple.com starting from $1299
- MacBook Pro at Best Buy starting from $1299
- Pre-Owned MacBook Pro at Best Buy starting from $599-$799
Here are some examples, please note that the links may be gone once the item is sold.
| Best Buy MacBook Pro | Price | Size | Chip | Memory | SSD |
| New MacBook Pro | $1299 | 13.3″ | Apple M1 chip | 8GB | 256GB |
| Pre-Owned MacBook Pro | $799 | 13.3″ | Intel Core i5 | 16GB | 500GB |
| Pre-Owned MacBook Pro | $699 | 13.3″ | Intel Core i5 | 8GB | 500GB |
| Pre-Owned MacBook Pro | $569 | 13.3″ | Intel Core i5 | 4GB | 320GB |
Does Best Buy Have Student Discount on Apple?
Unfortunately, there is no student discount for Apple products at Best Buy. Instead, the best way to get discount on Apple products at Best Buy is to use the Best Buy price match. Best Buy has a price match guarantee to match identical products to the price of their competitors.
To get the price match at Best Buy for Apple student discounts, you’ll just need to show the sales associate your offer from Apple.
So, although you cannot officially get the Apple student discount at Best Buy, Best Buy will match the deals Apple offers to students.
Note that you do not have to sign up for the Best Buy student discount to get the price match on discounted Apple items for students.
Apple has an attractive student discount that functions similar to the Best Buy student discount.
Apple offers deals on certain items and the discounts vary by product. You can view the Apple student discounts by verifying your student status on the Apple Education Page.
Here are the steps to get the Apple student discount at Best Buy:
- Sign up for Apple student discount
- Find the product you want in the Apple Education Store
- Print or save the information so it’s ready to share
- Find the exact same product at Best Buy and ask a sales associate for the price match.
- Show them proof of the deal from Apple so they can price match for you
You can also get the Best Buy price match online by using their chat feature or calling customer service at 1-888-237-8289.
There are a few caveats, though, to get the price match to work. First, the Best Buy product must be an exact match to the Apple offer: same brand, model number and color.
It also must be available and in-stock. Also, deals at Best Buy do not stack on top of the price match. So, you have to choose either the Best Buy promotion or the price match.
Finally, with the price match, Best Buy cannot mark items down to $0. So, if, for example, the Apple student discount offers free AirPods with the purchase of a MacBook, Best Buy cannot offer the AirPods as “free”.
But BestBuy will deduct the price of the AirPods from the price of the discounted MacBook, so you pay the same price as if you purchased it from the Apple website.
The Best Buy price match allows you to get Apple products at the same price you would pay on the Apple site with their student discount.
Even if Best Buy rings it up differently, with the price match you can still get the Apple student discount at Best Buy.
Does Best Buy Still Have Student Discount in 2024?
Yes, Best Buy still have discounts available to students of all ages. You can get any products you need for back to school. If you can’t find the thing you need on the Best Buy student discount list, you can use their price match guarantee to get sales from their competitors.
Here are a few things to remember about the Best Buy student discount:
- Best Buy’s student discount varies by item and is only available on certain products
- Any student is eligible for the student discount, but you must be 18 or older to sign up for a Best Buy membership and verify student status
- The discount is typically 10 to 30% off of items
- You cannot combine the student discount with other sales
- You can get the Apple student discount with Best Buy’s price match
- Almost every type of product is included in the Best Buy student discount, but availability varies each month
