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How to Sign Up for MSDNAA — A Step-by-Step Guide

 

MSDNAA is an important program where Microsoft works with academic institutions to put Microsoft software in the hands of students registered in an accredited program. MSDNAA is a paid membership program for college and university departments that enables them to issue software to their students. In addition, any student club is also eligible to sign up for the MSDNAA program.

Here is a 20-step guide for any eligible department or student club to sign up for the MSDNAA program.

1. Are you already registered or prequalified?

Visit the MSDNAA.net Web site: Go to https://msdnaa.net or https://msdn.microsoft.com/academic/ to see if you're already registered or prequalified for a subscription.

  • Not sure if you're registered? Use the School Search to search our database. If your school is already registered, you may be able to contact the existing Program Administrator to gain access to MSDNAA resources.
  • If your school appears in the School Search results, but the department is not of the same type as yours (for example, a fine arts or design department is listed in the results, but your math or computer science department is not), you may not be eligible to use the existing Membership. Please refer to the Program Usage Guidelines for details.
  • Are you eligible for a free subscription? Free MSDNAA subscriptions are available to Campus Agreement (CA) /School Agreement (SA) members and IT Academy passholders. Find your school to verify eligibility.
  • If you have purchased textbooks from Wiley, you may be eligible for a free subscription. Learn more about free subscription options from Microsoft and Wiley.
  • Grants for eligible institutions are available in some regions. See what's available.

 

2. Review subscription options and register

Sign up your school department: Choose one of the three options.

  • Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics departments: Choose the Developer AA Registration option — this provides the widest selection of software available to MSDNAA members.
  • Visualization, Illustration, Design and Art departments: Choose the Designer AA Registration option. This membership offers a design tools-focused subset of MSDNAA software available in the Developer AA subscription at a lower cost.

For most institutions, the Developer Academic Alliance (Developer AA) membership is the way to go.

 

3. Read the license agreement for MSDNAA

EULA: In another browser window, read the End User License Agreement (EULA) for your selected MSDNAA membership program.

Because the MSDNAA EULA is a supplemental license to MSDN License, also read the MSDN License agreement.

 

4. Select your country

On the Registration form: Select 'Country = United States' (substitute your own country if different, of course) and click on Register (or Renew if you already have a membership).

 

5. Provide information about your school and department

On the Registration form: Provide the Institution (name, type) and Department (name, number of students) information and click Continue.

 

6. Provide a discount code (optional)

On the Registration form: Provide a valid promo code or Campus/School agreement number to get a discount on the cost of MSDNAA membership and select Continue.

 

7. Select an MSDNAA subscription type

On the Registration form: Select the 3-year MSDN Developer AA membership for US$1,025 (or 1-year membership for US$499) and select the 'Online' option (as subscription type).
Click on 'Proceed to Checkout'. Applicable sales tax is added.

Note: Depending on the country or region you select, prices and currencies may differ.

 

8. Provide contact information

On the next screen of the Registration form:

  • Provide the contact e-mail for the MSDNAA Program Admin at your school
  • Provide your Tax ID and mail tax exempt certificate to MSDNAA tax exemption department or Fax (661) 775-6475
  • Provide the Billing address and Shipping Address of the MSDNAA program Administrator
  • Review the privacy policy statement
  • Click on Continue

Note: The above example describes U.S. requirements. Depending on the country your school is in, your requirements may differ. See the MSDNAA Worldwide page at for a list of resellers, regional fax numbers and e-mail addresses.

 

9. Review your information and submit

On the Registration form: Review your membership and Customer information.

  • Choose your payment type and enter the P.O. number and credit card details, or mail your check to the address shown.
  • Select "I agree to the terms and conditions."

 

10. Note your order reference number

Confirmation: At this point the MSDNAA order is created and sent for processing

  • On the confirmation page, note the 14-digit Order Reference Number (example: 01142017827308), and any documentation you need to submit
  • Print the confirmation page and include a copy with all your communication.
  • This confirmation page states "to ensure you receive the first shipment of program software and your membership kit." The "first shipment and membership kit" are only mailed out if you selected the DVD media option. Most sign-ups do not choose this option and hence do to receive any physical media via snail mail.

 

11. Wait for confirmation

Check your e-mail: A confirmation e-mail is sent from msdnaa@microsoft.com to the contact e-mail entered in step 8 (with title of "Microsoft Order in Process -- Order Number: 01142017827308") including the 14-digit Order Reference number (example: 01142017827308) and another 8-digit Membership Reference Number (example: T89-00369).
Check your junk mail folder if you don't see this e-mail within 48 hours.

  • This mail states that "You will receive your membership number and access instructions within three business days."
  • However, this is true only if there is no additional information or documentation you have to submit.

 

12. Submit required documentation

Submit: Please submit all the required documentation (example: Tax exemption Certification, copy of your Purchase order, check) at the earliest opportunity. Include the 14-digit Order Reference number (example: 01142017827308) in all your communications.

  • Once all the required documentation is submitted, your MSDNAA membership will be activated in 3-10 business days.

 

13. Receive activation instructions

Activation: You will receive an e-mail from msdnaa@microsoft.com (sent to the contact e-mail entered in step 8), confirming the activation of your MSDNAA account.
This will be 3 business days after all your documentation and payment have been received. (Check your junk mail folder if you don't see it.)

  • Your 9-digit Membership ID Number (example: 900591288) is included.
  • Instructions on accessing your online membership are included
  • Step 1: Go to https://msdn.microsoft.com/academic or go to https://msdnaa.net
  • Step 2: On the right hand side, in the "My MSDNAA Subscription" box, click on "Sign in to access your benefits." Sign in with an existing Windows Live ID or create one.

Tip: The "Sign in" link in the upper-right corner of any page achieves the same result.

  • Step 3: Log into the Windows Live ID, then click "Activate My Subscription" and fill out the form. Read the license notice, check the box that says "I acknowledge and accept," then click "Ok" to activate your membership account. If for any reason, the Activation does not succeed, clear your cookies and delete your browser's "Temporary Internet files" cache, then try again. If you still have problems, contact Customer Service, as described in item 14, below.
  • Step 4 - optional but recommended: Associate your subscription with your Windows Live ID. You only have to do this once.
  • Note: Because only one Live ID maybe associated with a MSDN membership, create a Live ID that you can share with persons who may need to administer this MSDN membership in your absence.

 

14. Call if you need support

Support: At any time during this process, if you need any assistance e-mail msdnaa@microsoft.com or phone (866) 643-9421 or fax (661) 775-6475 to reach the MSDNAA Customer Service team. (Outside the U.S., contact your regional Customer Service office.)

 

15. Sign up for a free ELMS account

Optional, but highly recommended: Sign up at https://www.e-academy.com/MSDNAA_RequestForm_main.cfm for an e-academy License Management System (ELMS) account, providing

  • Your 9-digit MSDNAA membership # (example: 900591288)
  • Name of your Institution and department name
  • Program Admin name and e-mail

 

16. Receive confirmation e-mail from e-academy.com

E-mail: You will receive a confirmation e-mail from e-academy.com (ex: rapid_deploy@e-academy.com) providing you

  • a URL for your MSDNAA Online software system (example: https://msdn.e-academy.com/demo)
  • your admin user name: youradmin@yourschool.edu
  • your admin password: **********

 

17. Review ELMS documentation

Information about ELMS can be obtained at https://kivuto.com/elms-for-dreamspark

 

18. Login to ELMS

Login: To get started,

  • Login to your ELMS with your Admin user name and admin password
  • Click on the ADMINISTRATION button located on the horizontal navigation bar (beside SOFTWARE and SUPPORT).

Review the Hosted ELMS Guide and Admin FAQ for information on

  • configuration,
  • product setup,
  • batch importing student IDs
  • getting support

 

19. Configure ELMS to host the products you want to make available

Configure Product: To make software available on your Cloud Hosted ELMS server

  • Click on "Hosted ELMS" icon on Right hand side (or Product Management / Rapid Setup / Configure Hosted ELMS now)
  • On the "Rapid Setup - Hosted ELMS" page, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Enable ALL" button

 

20. Add ELMS accounts for each of your students

Add users: To upload student e-mails (identities)

  • On the Left Hand Side, click on User Management/ Groups / Add New Group
  • Create a Group Name such as "2009 Fall CS Students" and set an expiry date for the end of the term: January 31, 2009
  • Create a plain text file (.txt) with a list of all students taking classes in the CS department for Fall 2008 - one complete email address per line in the text file (somename@yourschool.edu) and save as '2009 fall CS Student list.txt'
  • A best practice is to get the list of ALL students taking any class in your department, from the department office, for upload.
  • Import this list by clicking on the User Management/ELMS Authentication / Import List, found on the left-hand side of the page.
  • Import the test file created previously: 'Desktop\2009 fall CS Student list.txt'
  • Select the Group: 2009 Fall CS Students

That's it. Each of the students whose e-mail you uploaded in step 20 will receive an e-mail from elms_support@e-academy.com with a link to your online MSDNAA Software system, where they can down the software you enabled in step 19 and also get the product keys. All the Program Admin has to do is to wait out the semester and upload a new set of students taking a class in the department.

If you need help configuring your Hosted ELMS delivery solution, please e-mail e-academy support staff at msdnaa_softwarecenter@e-academy.com