Office of the Provost
Announcements

Student Access to ChatGPT Edu

August 10, 2026

This message was shared with students by Jacquelyn Malcolm Bailey, EdD, EJD, Vice President and Chief Information Officer on August 10, 2026.

Dear Students,

We are pleased to share that Drexel students now have access to Drexel ChatGPT Edu — a more-private, University-licensed generative AI platform. Please read this message for guidance on how to obtain access to ChatGPT Edu and best practices for when and how to use this enterprise platform.

Protected AI Environment

ChatGPT Edu is being introduced to support learning, scholarship and professional practice across disciplines while maintaining Drexel’s academic values. Importantly, Drexel’s enterprise agreement ensures that conversations and data shared in Drexel ChatGPT Edu are not used to train OpenAI models.

When to Use ChatGPT Edu

You can have access to Drexel ChatGPT Edu even if you already have a personal ChatGPT account or may want to establish one in the future. When you have both, consider these factors so you can decide which to use based on the kind of information being provided to and requested of the service:

Edu service:

  • Recommended for academic use while you are at Drexel
  • Access to the latest GPT “Instant” model, the Deep Research agent, image generation, more memory for longer chats, and custom GPTs
  • Does not allow sharing chats with people outside of Drexel
  • Service is inaccessible after you leave the University or if Drexel stops using ChatGPT Edu; however, you may export your Edu data to a file that can be imported to a personal account
  • Activity is never used to train OpenAI models
  • Use is governed by the Drexel ChatGPT Edu Terms of Service

Personal (free or paid) account:

  • Recommended for personal use
  • Allows you to purchase access to more advanced services (e.g., “Thinking” modes, programming assistance agents, etc.) for a monthly fee
  • Allows sharing chats with anyone
  • Remains yours after you leave Drexel or if Drexel stops using ChatGPT Edu
  • Activity in personal accounts may be used for OpenAI’s services, including model training, depending on your settings. For more information, read OpenAI’s privacy settings

Obtaining Access and Support

You may now request access to Drexel ChatGPT Edu. Click the “Opt-In to ChatGPT Edu” button from the ChatGPT Edu overview of service page.  After opting in, you will receive follow-up instructions via email from Drexel IT.

The following resources and support are available:

Help and support

If you have questions about the opt-in process or are having trouble accessing the ChatGPT Edu environment, please contact the Drexel IT Help Desk or visit our Drexel ChatGPT Edu FAQ

Sincerely,

Jacquelyn Malcolm Bailey, EdD, EJD (BS '97)
Vice President and Chief Information Officer

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