Netflix May be Ending Student Access to Parents’ Accounts; Which Services Offer Student Discounts?

College can be an intimidating experience, as kids leave the nest for the first time to strike out on their own. It can be a big help to college students to have something familiar and comforting to watch when they get back to the dorm, which is why so many value the ability to use their parents’ Netflix account while they’re far from home.

However, college students may not have access to their parents’ Netflix for much longer. The company recently enacted its official rules to stop password sharing in the United States, and those new guidelines state that Netflix is meant to be used only by the members of a single household, within that household. Netflix’s Help Center page defines a “household” as:

“A collection of the devices connected to the internet at the main place you watch Netflix. A Netflix Household can be set using a TV device. All other devices that use your Netflix account on the same internet connection as this TV will automatically be part of your Netflix Household.”

Netflix will ask users to continue logging into their accounts with their home Wi-fi at least once per month in order to keep the primary household set. As the rules are laid out currently, that does not allow family members away at college to access their homes’ accounts. Students could still attempt to log in, which will send parents an email asking them to verify by code their attempted access. But this process is cumbersome and relies on parents being available to communicate the verification code to students whenever they want to watch the service.

There’s still time for Netflix to work out a system that allows college students to log into the family Netflix account without as much of a hassle, but nothing has yet been communicated on this front. Young people are likely to be the hardest-hit by Netflix's new password sharing rules in general, and it would be wise for the world’s largest streaming service to consider the long-term effects on an audience segment that is frequently turning to other forms of video for its entertainment.

Do Any Streamers Offer Student Discounts?

The good news for families is that Netflix is the only streamer that is this committed to curbing account sharing, at least for now. In fact, some streaming services offer student discounts, though these will have to be purchased by the student themselves, as they will need to be verified as students in order to qualify for the deals.

• discovery+: Students can get ad-supported discovery+ for $2.99 per month, a 40% discount from the standard $4.99 monthly price.

• Hulu: Students receive an impressive 75% discount from Hulu, which is offering its ad-supported tier for $1.99 per month instead of the regular $7.99 per month.

• Amazon Prime/Prime Video: Amazon’s student discount is the best of the bunch. It gives verified students a six-month free trial to Prime, which will include full access to Prime Video. Once the trial is over, students have to pay just $69 per year to get all Prime benefits, 50% off the usual $139 annual cost.