The WordPress.com Pupil Plan Is Right here: Give Your Scholars a Web page They Can Stay

As of late at WordCamp US 2026, we’re formally launching WordPress.com Schooling.

At its middle is a loose devoted Pupil Plan, constructed to present scholars the equipment of a pro WordPress.com surroundings whilst they be informed.

Now, scholars can construct genuine web sites in a certified surroundings that they are able to stay the usage of after the direction ends.

We’ve been quietly piloting this for the previous yr, and it’s already reached greater than 5,000 energetic scholars throughout 27 nations. Now we’re able to open the doorways.

At WordCamp US 2025, Matt Mullenweg closed his keynote with a query: 

How will we give the following technology the most productive equipment, so that they don’t have to put in writing with a borrowed pen?

That line is the entire explanation why WordPress.com Schooling exists.

The Pupil Plan: Loose reputable WordPress.com equipment

Any instructor can follow for his or her elegance at wp.com/edu and get, for each and every scholar:

• An actual WordPress.com plan: The similar platform thousands and thousands of companies run on. No watered-down “scholar tier,” no limited plugin get entry to.
• A loose area identify: Scholars can sign in a .weblog or .artwork area for free of charge (our two education-eligible TLDs for this preliminary section). 
• Plugin give a boost to: Scholars can set up plugins and lengthen their websites as a part of their coursework.
• The primary yr, totally loose: No bank card required.

This isn’t a stripped-down school room model of WordPress.com. The Pupil Plan contains plugin give a boost to, 6 GB of garage, backups, staging websites, SFTP/SSH, phpMyAdmin, and Studio Sync. Scholars be informed and construct with lots of the similar equipment they’ll come upon running with WordPress professionally.

After yr one, renewal is solely $2/month ($24/yr) — a worth that assists in keeping the website on-line and out there lengthy after the direction ends.

That ultimate level issues greater than it could sound. This isn’t a throwaway elegance challenge that disappears when the semester ends. It’s an actual website online, on an actual area, {that a} scholar owns and will elevate right into a portfolio, a task software, or their first freelance shopper — for not up to the cost of a espresso a month.

And although a scholar makes a decision to not renew after the primary yr, not anything will get deleted. The website merely drops to a loose WordPress.com plan on a loose subdomain, and each and every web page, submit, remark, and media report the scholar created remains precisely the place it’s, absolutely intact and on-line.

No countdown timer, no “pay or lose your paintings” ultimatum. The portfolio a scholar spent a semester development is theirs to stay, whether or not they renew or no longer.

Why we constructed the Pupil Plan for genuine study rooms

Academics let us know the similar demanding situations arise over and over again:

Setup takes too lengthy. Developing accounts, configuring websites, troubleshooting get entry to problems — all earlier than the true coursework even begins. WordPress.com handles the infrastructure so you’ll be able to center of attention on instructing.

Scholars lose their paintings when the semester ends. Maximum school room equipment delete the whole lot as soon as the direction closes. Motivated scholars who wish to stay development have nowhere to head. With WordPress.com Schooling, each and every scholar owns their website and will stay it are living for $2/month — or take their content material with them, anytime.

Now not each and every scholar begins from the similar position. Scholars in under-resourced faculties or nations ceaselessly face obstacles that prohibit what they are able to construct or get entry to on-line.

This program offers each and every scholar the similar professional-grade platform, the similar customized area, and the similar alternative to create an actual internet presence — regardless of the place they’re ranging from.

Getting ready scholars for the true internet 

Schooling techniques world wide are rethinking what virtual literacy method within the age of AI. 

We expect the solution begins with possession — no longer some other walled-garden software that disappears the instant a subscription lapses, however the open internet itself.

Scholars depart with a website they regulate, content material they personal, and sensible WordPress abilities constructed at the basics that energy over 40% of the web.

It’s already running: 5,000+ scholars, 27 nations

WordPress.com Schooling has been working effectively as a pilot program for the previous yr.

At IES Luís Seoane in Spain, advertising and marketing instructor Joaquín says giving scholars get entry to to WordPress.com from day one allows them to paintings in an actual surroundings. Greater than 20 of this system’s 30 scholars went directly to internships, and employers have been “shocked via the extent our scholars convey—no longer simply in search engine optimization and SEM technique, however in running with WordPress.”

I really like the ‘ceaselessly’ nature of this. My scholars can construct an actual portfolio that they are able to stay and use after the direction ends.

— Javier, Media Research Instructor, San Telmo Arts College, Spain

Survey effects from pilot educators verify this:

• 88.9% mentioned WordPress wisdom, mixed with this system, improves their scholars’ employability.
• 81.5% mentioned it improves their scholars’ entrepreneurial capability.

Actual abilities, on genuine infrastructure, translating into genuine results — internships, jobs, and the boldness to release one thing of their very own.

Development the bridge to the group

WordPress.com Schooling could also be a bridge into the broader WordPress group. Past our personal school room program, we’re supporting two WordPress.org projects with loose WordPress.com internet hosting:

• WordPress Credit is a WordPress Basis program that companions with instructional establishments to have interaction scholars in open supply contributions. We offer loose internet hosting to members, and 150+ scholars have benefited up to now.
• WordPress Campus Attach is a WordPress.org initiative that brings native WordPress communities into upper schooling establishments via student-led occasions. WordPress.com has subsidized dozens of those occasions with loose internet hosting for organizers and attendees.

It’s about transferring scholars from “I’ve a website online” to “I’m a part of an international open supply group” and doing our section to support the techniques the broader WordPress challenge has already constructed.

Carry WordPress.com for your school room 

WordPress.com Schooling is greater than loose internet hosting. It’s a program that works along educators to organize scholars for the way forward for the open internet, serving to them retain possession in their content material whilst strengthening their employability and entrepreneurial abilities.

This contains projects reminiscent of AI-assisted website online introduction, microcredentials, {and professional} certifications designed to construct sensible abilities, validate wisdom, and switch concepts into real-world alternatives.

Educators can follow to convey the Pupil Plan to their categories at wp.com/edu.

If you happen to’re a instructor, division head, or program coordinator who desires your scholars development genuine, lasting web sites they are able to personal and develop — follow as of late.