Creative Cloud licensing for education | Common questions

There are three primary ways that schools and universities can license Creative Cloud, depending on deployment requirements. Learn more about Creative Cloud licensing options for education.

A Creative Cloud for education device license is an Adobe licensing option for classrooms and labs that allow multiple students to use the same creative application on a single computer without having to log in or authenticate license ownership. A device license can be used for a Single App or the All App plan. Online services and storage are not included.

Creative Cloud for education includes a named-user licensing option, where a license is granted to each user rather than each device. A named-user license can be used for the All App plan or a Single App option, each with online services, and is also available for purchase through the Value Incentive Plan (VIP) program. Each named-user license includes two one-on-one, 30-minute Adobe Expert Services sessions per year and comes with the ability to install a second copy for the same person on a personally owned device as long as it’s not used simultaneously (known as “work-at-home rights”).

Applications and services vary depending on your Creative Cloud licensing option. For a comparison of applications and services, see Creative Cloud for education.

You must be familiar with Adobe’s CLP and TLP volume programs that are available for purchasing licenses of perpetual software from Adobe. VIP is a membership-based buying program that customers join to purchase Creative Cloud for education. With a VIP membership, there are no minimum license purchase requirements. Management is easy, deployment is immediate, and compliance is automatic. There is no cost to join VIP. Learn more about VIP.

Deployment for device licenses must be done via the Creative Cloud Packager. Named-user deployment is either via the Admin Console or Creative Cloud Packager. Learn more about Deploying and delivering apps and updates.

If you’re looking to provide institution-wide deployment customized to fit your requirements, you can purchase Creative Cloud for enterprise through an Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA). Primary and secondary schools and legal entities can also purchase Creative Cloud apps through an Education Enterprise Agreement (EEA).

The ETLA is a buying program for enterprises. Learn more about ETLA for education.

Creative Cloud is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), in the United States, the European Union, and Asia Pacific. AWS offers a reliable platform for software services used by thousands of businesses worldwide. AWS provides services in accordance with security best practices, and undergoes industry-recognized certifications and audits. This means that Creative Cloud members benefit from Amazon’s ongoing commitment to security practices for stored assets. Learn more about AWS and security.

Yes, nonprofit customers are eligible to purchase both Creative Cloud for education named-user and device licenses, and are also eligible under the ETLA. Contact your Adobe sales representative for more details. Individual Creative Cloud memberships do not qualify for nonprofit pricing.

Students and teachers can purchase Creative Cloud at a discounted price. For more information, see pricing plans for Students and Teachers.