New Pricing Makes Streaming Learning Resources with Amazon AppStream 2.0 More Affordable for Qualifying Education Users

Amazon AppStream 2.0 is a fully managed, secure application streaming service that allows you to stream desktop applications to any computer running a web browser. AppStream 2.0 offers no upfront investment and no infrastructure for you to maintain. For education, this means students from K-12, primary, and higher education have greater access to learning resources and applications regardless of platform or device. AppStream 2.0 also offers pay-as-you-go pricing so you only pay for the time your students use their applications, and a monthly Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Subscription Access License (RDS SAL) user fee for each student.

Today, Amazon AppStream 2.0 reduced its monthly Microsoft RDS SAL user fee 89% from $4.19/user/month to $0.44/user/month for Qualified Education Users. Please reference the Microsoft Licensing Terms and Documents for qualification requirements. If you think you may qualify, please contact us. We will review your information and work with you to reduce your Microsoft RDS SAL fee. This makes it easier for you to incorporate AppStream 2.0 into your classroom.

Students can use Macs, Chromebooks, and other computers to instantly access applications like Adobe Photoshop, MATLAB, CES EduPack, ANSYS FLUENT, and SOLIDWORKS from any location inside and outside the classroom. AppStream 2.0 integrates with your existing network so students can sign in using Active Directory to access file servers and printers from their applications.

In K-12, you can provide students simple Chromebooks for the school year, and then use AppStream 2.0 to give every student access to specific applications they need for any class. In higher education, STEM students require access to specialized software available only in computer labs. Using AppStream 2.0, institutions can reallocate lab space and give students access to complex 3D applications such as ANSYS FLUENT from any location, on their personal computers.

To showcase what this pricing reduction means for you, let’s walk through an example for a K-12 Education Intro to Design class in which the total AppStream 2.0 savings is 65%. Total monthly cost before: $2,895; total monthly cost after: $1,020.

In this scenario, high school students use Adobe Photoshop for 16 hours per month. The AppStream 2.0 instance costs $0.10 per hour in most AWS Regions and there are 500 students enrolled in this course across a school or district.

Before the price reduction, the AppStream 2.0 usage per month was $800, and $2,095 on monthly user fees or a total of $2,895 per month. With the 89% monthly user fee reduction, the district spends $220 on monthly user fees, and $1,020 on total AppStream 2.0 usage. This reduced the total AppStream 2.0 monthly cost by 65%.

If you haven’t used AppStream 2.0 before, you can try a few applications now or you can get started with your applications. If you are at EDUCAUSE 2017 in Philadelphia this week, stop by AWS (Booth 1509) to speak to our experts on how AppStream 2.0 can help your institution. Not in Philly? Join us at re:Invent 2017 for Building On-Demand Classrooms and Labs using Amazon WorkSpaces and Amazon AppStream 2.0. The session includes speakers from UMUC Ventures and Cornell University who will discuss how they use AppStream 2.0 in their classrooms and distance learning scenarios.