Free Microsoft e-Learning courses for students

If you're a student thinking of studying for the Microsoft certifications then you should seriously consider Microsoft latest offering. The Microsoft IT Academy Student Pass is a special no cost online learning offer for university student. Using the IT Academy Student Pass you can get hold of free e-learning courses (so long as you are a verified university student). These courses include topics from development, databases and also Windows Server.

Currently there are 5 certification paths where you can get FREE e-learning courses:

Windows Developer - 70-536 TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0—Application Development Foundation
Web Developer - 70–528: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 - Web-Based Client Development
Database Developer - 70–431 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Implementation & Maintenance
Windows Server Administration - 70-290: Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment
Windows Client Administration - 70-620: TS: Windows Vista Client, Configuring

Once you get your hands on the IT Academy Student Pass offer, you will get 12 to 22 hours of FREE e-learning courses, targeted towards your first Microsoft certification. Each track (as they are known) is unique, and Microsoft advise that you will require to take additional e-learning courses to complete all of the topics you need to succeed on the certification exam. However, considering this is free learning material, I don't think anyone's going to be complaining if there's a little extra revision required elsewhere.

Why use free e-learning courses?

Using e-learning material you can:

Reduce overall training time
Spread training out over extended periods of time (even months)
Bookmark progress (computer remembering where the student left off so they can resume the courses from there)
Remain in one location (i.e., home, office, airport, coffee shop, etc.) with no need to travel
Receive quality training that bolsters job performance

Microsoft states that the goal of the IT Academy Student Pass is to give you a head start by providing hours and hours of rich, award-winning e-learning content that sets the stage for the learning to come. As a student, you couldn't really ask for more, with quality material designed by those that use the technologies on a daily basis.

Currently, the IT Academy Student Pass will be available in English, but additional languages are being considered at this time. As with all exams this includes a wide range of languages such as German, French, Portuguese, Japanese etc..

Microsoft IT Academy

The Microsoft IT Academy Program is available to universities, colleges, and high schools by annual subscription. It is aimed at students working toward Microsoft certifications or higher level IT careers.

If your university or high school is a member of the Microsoft IT Academy, then their benefits include faculty training, classroom and online curriculum, courseware, certification-exam discounts, textbooks, ILT curriculum, and access to Microsoft professional resources such as MSDNAA and TechNet.

Are you eligible for the IT Academy Student Pass?

The ITA Student Pass program is available ONLY to verified university students. So you'll need an email address from .edu domain name or other accredited educational domain.

How to obtain an ITA Student Pass access code

You can get access code through MSDNAA at their institution. To find out if your institution has MSDNAA, please contact your faculty or your institution system administrator. If you have MSDNAA at your institution, go to your MSDNAA site and find the IT Academy Student Pass program listing.