Academic retail software

What is Academic Retail Software?
Academic retail software is a full version of a software package that is sold only to academic users at a discounted price. The software package is typically sealed in retail packaging for distribution to academic users rather than at the factory for commercial use.

Authorized Education Resellers offer academic software at a discounted price to universities, college professors, and students. These academic versions contain the same functionality as the full-price retail versions, but academic retail software has terms in the end-user license agreement that the software cannot be used to create anything for business purposes.

One of the reasons manufacturers offer discounts on academic versions of the software is because of the special end-user agreement (EUA). The EEA prohibits the use of academic software for commercial or financial gain. After graduation, they can no longer use the academic software programs in their related work areas and then have to upgrade to the retail versions by purchasing a retail version.

Offering educational discounts on retail software is therefore a marketing strategy as the students get used to the software titles and therefore make the more likely that they will purchase the full retail versions of that software when they graduate.