ChatGPT Edu now available at no cost to the Duke University community

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Beginning Wednesday, July 15, Duke University faculty, staff, students, and affiliates will have access to ChatGPT Edu Standard at no additional cost, bringing one of today's most powerful AI tools for teaching, learning, research, and everyday work to the Duke community through a secure platform.

ChatGPT Edu is OpenAI's version of ChatGPT designed specifically for higher education. It includes enhanced privacy protections and operates under agreements that prevent Duke users' data from being used to train AI models. This provides a secure environment for exploring AI while supporting the university's academic and administrative work.

Note: This announcement does not apply to Duke Kunshan University (DKU) or Duke University Health System (DUHS).

What's included with ChatGPT Edu Standard

The Standard account provides unlimited, secure access to many of ChatGPT's core features, including:

• ChatGPT's flagship model 
• Three image generations per day 
• Five Deep Research tasks per day 
• The ability to create and share Custom GPTs 

Standard accounts do not include credit-based advanced models and tools, which are available through the Premium account. Student options for purchasing credits to allow them to use advanced features will be announced separately.

According to Duke's Acceptable Use Policy, content created in ChatGPT Edu is protected by the university's institutional privacy, security, and legal safeguards rather than the data-use practices of the public version of ChatGPT.

Pay-as-you-go for advanced AI capabilities of a Premium account

For faculty and staff whose work requires access to the latest AI models and advanced tools, ChatGPT's previous Advanced and Premium tiers have been combined into a single Premium account.

Premium includes access to features such as:

• Codex 
• Advanced reasoning models 
• Extended Deep Research 
• Workspace agents 
• Agentic AI tools 

Faculty and staff with an institutional funding source can to opt into billing for a Premium account and may consume up to 5,000 credits (approximately $200) per month. Fund codes will be billed based upon usage, up to the monthly limit.

Those whose work requires additional credits may request an increase to their monthly limit. The request process confirms the funding source, acknowledges any additional costs, and notifies the associated business manager.

Monitoring credit consumption

Because Premium billing is based on actual usage, some advanced models and tools, including GPT-5 Thinking Pro, Deep Research, Workspace Agents, and Codex, consume credits more quickly than others.

Monthly billing statements will be sent to the associated cost center, making it easy for departments to track usage and manage costs.

Should you have questions, contact the OIT Service Desk.