Adobe and Homeschool (free and discounted software)
posted under category: General on October 17, 2011 by Nathan
I'm not related to Adobe, but I do co-manage an Adobe software users group for ColdFusion. Adobe has been really good to the group, giving us shirts and pens (swag items), plus two huge software giveaways every year, and lots of other benefits for my co-manager and I. That's my disclaimer. I like Adobe because they like me, and because their software is great.
Another thing I do is school my children at home. Well, who am I kidding, my amazing wife really does all of the hard work! There are a lot of up-sides and down-sides to homeschooling, same as any schooling option, but it's just a choice we made and are taking it year-by-year with each of our kids.
With all that said, I want to highlight a couple things that I found on Adobe.com for home schooling families.
According to Adobe's educational purchasing eligibility page, Adobe's education discounts apply to homeschooled students and their teachers. To prove that you are a valid home school family, about 2/3 down that same page lists the articles you can send Adobe as proof. We are a member of a couple homeschool associations, so I scanned my AFHE ID card.
Now what can you get with it?
Adobe.com has a great site for introducing their software in education, Adobe Education. Check it out. From there, I discovered the educational price list. You can see it for yourself that the price differences vary. I would say that most of the software is around 60% off, but some is 75% and some only 25%. A few of them are even free!
Those free packages point to the Free RIA Tools site. You can get ColdFusion 9, ColdFusion Builder 2 and Flash Builder 4.5 for free, just because you homeschool your kids! I made my request last Saturday and was given a serial number today (2 days later).
That's a win, fellow home-schooling families. Very expensive software, yours free.