Activating Student Microsoft 365/LinkedIn Premium Offer

The error indicates a problem with accessing the academic verification link in the email, not with the actual eligibility itself. Use these steps to move forward:

1. Do not rely on the email link
   • Instead of clicking the “Academic verification” link in the email (which is giving the access-rights error), resume or start the verification directly from Microsoft’s portals.
2. Resume the academic verification wizard from the trial
   • If already started a Microsoft 365 Education trial, resume verification here during the trial period: use the resume the academic verification wizard link mentioned in the documentation. This lets the verification run without needing the email link.
3. Start (or restart) verification from the Education signup page
   • Go to the Microsoft 365 Education signup page and sign in with the same account and school email used for the offer.
   • Enter the school email again and follow the academic verification wizard. This should regenerate the verification flow and avoid the broken email link.
4. Check academic eligibility status in the admin center (if a tenant/trial exists)
   • If a Microsoft 365 Education trial tenant has already been created:
     1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
     2. On the home page, look at the Billing card.
     3. Confirm the status: approved, pending, declined, or add your domain.
   • If no status appears, the Education trial is not active and the signup/verification must be started again via the Education site.
5. If verification keeps failing
   • If the system still cannot verify academic status even after re-running the wizard (or using any “verify in a different way” option if presented), the institution may not be recognized as eligible.
   • In that case:
     • If the school is not a Microsoft Qualified Academic Institution, only commercial offers or nonprofit offers (if applicable) are available.
     • If the school should be eligible or the denial seems incorrect, contact Microsoft support to review the academic eligibility decision.
6. If the institution is not eligible
   • If the school is confirmed as not eligible, Microsoft 365 Education/academic pricing (and related academic-linked offers) cannot be applied to that tenant. Commercial or nonprofit subscriptions would be the alternative.

For the LinkedIn Premium part of the bundle, once academic verification and the Microsoft 365 Education offer are successfully activated, the LinkedIn Premium email/offer is typically sent automatically. If it does not appear, check all mail folders (including junk) in the mailbox used for signup and access the account from another device or client to ensure the email is not being hidden.

If the access-rights error on the email link persists even after successful verification, it can be ignored as long as the Education status shows as approved and the offer benefits (including any LinkedIn Premium entitlement) are delivered.

References:

• Verify academic eligibility for Microsoft 365 Education subscriptions
• Create and sell offers to education customers in Partner Center
• How can students get a free Microsoft 365 subscription? - Microsoft Q&A
• Academic verification failing despite school email and LinkedIn connection - Microsoft Q&A
• Not Received LinkedIn Premium 1 year offer after Microsoft 365 1 year offer subscription - Microsoft Q&A