Tableau Desktop Now Free For University Students

If you are a student at a university, you can now get a free license for the full version of Tableau Desktop. No matter if you use it in class or for research, this is the full version that does not restrict the amount of data or the kind of connectivity (like Tableau Public does). The license is good for one year and can be renewed as long as you are enrolled at university.

This has been in the works for a while, and I’m very happy to finally see it happen. Tableau’s roots are in academia, so it only makes sense to make it available to students and faculty. There was a poorly advertised way of getting a discounted version of Tableau before, but that still cost a bit of money and required you to jump through some hoops. The new program asks you a minimum of information for verification, and is automated, so in most cases you will get your license within minutes. This is not restricted to the U.S. either, though verification can take a bit longer in that case.

Tableau for Students is different from Tableau for Teaching (TFT). The latter is specific to a particular course where Tableau is used as part of the teaching (I’ve used Tableau to teach Visual Analytics several times, for example). The licenses for TfT are limited to one semester, and you were not supposed to use them for research. That restriction no longer applies, and in fact we hope that you will find Tableau useful for your data analysis!

Tableau for Teaching is not going away, though. If you are an instructor and are thinking about using Tableau for a course, get in touch! There are real, enthusiastic, awesome people who handle these emails, and they’re happy to give you licenses, answer questions, and help in any way they can. You can also contact me, if you want to talk to a grumpy ex-professor.

So if you’ve ever wanted to try Tableau, and you’re a student, this is your chance now.