Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Intended Audience: Students, Faculty, and Staff
Table of Contents
Questions & Answers
How Do I Request Microsoft Copilot Pro?
Copilot Premium is available as a subscription service from Microsoft through the EIT Microsoft license. If a customer requests a Copilot Premium subscription, send them the following link;
Purchase Microsoft Premium Subscription
The form for ordering the Copilot Premium subscription is on the Request Office 365 Software Upgrades page, and it will need to be filled out by your supervisor, ITC or someone else who has authority to give an accounting code for the subscription fee. Students must work with their college to have this purchased on the students behalf.
What Is The Cost For Microsoft Copilot Pro?
The Copilot Premium subscription has a monthly fee of $18.60 for access.
Microsoft Copilot: Basic vs. Upgraded (Microsoft 365 Copilot Education)
Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered assistant designed to enhance productivity and creativity. On campus, there are two different versions of Copilot available to our users: the Basic version included with your standard university license, and an Upgraded version available for purchase.
Basic Copilot (Included with your Education A5 License)
- What it is: A web-based AI assistant (formerly known as Bing Chat Enterprise).
- Where it looks: It is Web-grounded. It connects to the public internet to help you answer questions, generate text, and create images.
- Security: It includes Commercial Data Protection. Your chat data is not saved, Microsoft cannot view it, and your data is not used to train public AI models.
- Best for: General web research, drafting generic content, and getting quick answers.
Upgraded: Microsoft 365 Copilot Education (Purchased Add-On)
- What it is: An advanced AI assistant integrated directly into the Microsoft 365 apps you use every day (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams).
- Where it looks: It is Work-grounded. It securely connects to our institution's Microsoft Graph (your emails, files, meetings, and Teams chats). It works with your specific data to help you create, summarize, and analyze.
- Security: Inherits all of our university's existing Microsoft 365 security, privacy, and compliance policies. It only surfaces information you already have permission to access.
- Best for: Summarizing missed Teams meetings, drafting emails based on existing documents, analyzing data in Excel, and converting Word documents into PowerPoint presentations.
What Are The Benefits Of Using The Microsoft 365 Copilot Education Version?
Some benefits to the Upgraded version (Microsoft 365 Copilot Education) can be found below:
- In-App Integration: You don’t have to switch to a web browser; Copilot is built right into the ribbon of your favorite Microsoft apps.
- Contextual Awareness: You can use natural language to ask it to find specific things (e.g., "Summarize the emails sent yesterday regarding the software upgrade," or "Create a summary of the project proposal document.")
- Time Savings in Teams: Copilot can summarize meeting transcripts in real-time, capture action items, and tell you what you missed if you joined a meeting late.
- Content Generation: Transform a written Word document into a fully drafted PowerPoint deck with a single prompt.
- Data Analysis: Ask Copilot to identify trends, create charts, or generate formulas based on your data in Excel.