# How to Join YNAB's College Program > This article will help college students redeem one free year of YNAB through our College Program. Source: https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-join-ynabs-college-program-rkDd5VlC5 Last updated: 2026-07-02T17:23:51.876Z Learn how to take advantage of YNAB's College Program, where we provide college students with one free year of YNAB. Follow the second set of steps in this article if you've signed up for YNAB through the Apple App Store. #### In This Article [How to Join YNAB's College Program](#web-android) [How to Join YNAB's College Program (Apple)](#apple) [What to Expect After Joining YNAB's College Program](#expect) #### Younger Students Our College Program isn't available to high school students, but YNAB users can create and share plans with [YNAB Together](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/ynab-together-B1nS78Cki). Parents and guardians can invite up to five members to join YNAB Together. To accept an invite to YNAB Together and create an account, students must be 13+ in the United States (16+ outside of the US). * * * ## How to Join YNAB's College Program 1. Be a college student. 🙂 2. Go to our [College page](https://www.ynab.com/college/). 3. Click _Claim Your Free Year_. 4. Follow the on-screen instructions to verify your student enrollment status through SheerID! 5. Once verified, you'll get a link and a code to redeem for your free year of YNAB! 6. You can apply the code in one of two ways: 1. **Automatically**, by clicking the link you received and creating a new YNAB account **or** logging into an existing account. 2. **Manually**, by visiting our [College Program page](https://www.ynab.com/college/) and clicking the _Claim Your Free Year_ button. Then, beneath the United States and International options, "Already have a student invite code?" will be listed as an option. Enter the code and click _Redeem Your Free Year_. **Can't find an email with your code?** Be sure to check your spam folder. If you've still not received anything or are running into an error of any kind, [tell the chatbot you need a human or send us an email](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-get-help-SygqcvtC5). We can help! **Unable to verify through SheerID?** Create a YNAB account (if you don't have one already) and email **help@ynab.com** with your proof of enrollment—something with your name, the school's name, and a date showing some form of current enrollment (class schedules, transcriptions, tuition receipts, or IDs with expiration dates all work). [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## How to Join YNAB's College Program (Apple) **Did you initially sign up for YNAB through the Apple App Store?** Apple is unable to honor our College Program promotion, so follow these steps to get your account set up directly through YNAB instead. 1. Before you can redeem your free year from the [College Program](https://www.ynab.com/college/), first either [request a refund from Apple](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/requesting-a-refund-SyNvz1I5#apple) or [cancel your Apple trial](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/your-ynab-trial-ry87vWAc). 2. Then, there's a quick change we need to make to your YNAB account! Please [tell the chatbot you need a human or send us an email](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-get-help-SygqcvtC5), and let us know that you're an Apple trialer or subscriber wanting to redeem your college year, and we'll get everything taken care of on our end. If Apple denied your refund request, please include that information in your message.        3. Once you hear back from us that everything is good to go, follow the steps below to redeem your full year. (Skip to step 3e if you've **already** received a code for a free College year.)  1. Go to our [College page](https://www.ynab.com/college/). 2. Click _Claim Your Free Year_. 3. Based on your selection for where your school is located (_United States_ or _International_), follow the steps to verify your student info. 1. **United States:** Follow the on-screen instructions to verify your student enrollment status through SheerID! 2. **International:** Create an account (if you don't have one already) and then email **help@ynab.com** with your proof of enrollment.  What counts as proof? Something with your name, the school's name, and a date showing some form of current enrollment— think class schedules, transcriptions, tuition receipts, or IDs with expiration dates.   4. Once verified, you'll get a link and a code to redeem for your free year of YNAB! 5. You can apply the code in one of two ways: 1. **Automatically**, by clicking the link you received and creating a new YNAB account **or** logging into an existing account. 2. **Manually**, by visiting our [College Program page](https://www.ynab.com/college/) and clicking the _Claim Your Free Year_ button. Then, beneath the United States and International options, "Already have a student invite code?" will be listed as an option. Enter the code and click _Redeem Your Free Year_. **Can't find an email with your code?** Be sure to check your spam folder. If you've still not received anything or are running into an error of any kind, [tell the chatbot you need a human or send us an email](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-get-help-SygqcvtC5). We can help! [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## What to Expect After Joining YNAB's College Program * If you're new to YNAB, the free year will automatically apply to your new account. * If you're an active YNAB subscriber, the free year will automatically apply to the end of your subscription. * Our College Program provides **one** free year of YNAB, so make sure you're ready for next year's subscription cost by creating a "YNAB Subscription" [category](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/adding-removing-and-customizing-categories-a-guide-HJFO5j909) and [target](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-use-targets-rk5kkI9ks). [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Help Us Help You! Our Knowledge Base team reviews article feedback responses weekly, and we actively revise these articles to make them as helpful as possible. That's where you come in! Our articles are scored based on the _Yes_ or _No_ ratings received below. We also collect freeform feedback for any _No_ ratings (so our team can focus in on what you were specifically searching for!). **Success**: Found what you were searching for? It would be super helpful if you click _Yes_ below. **Suggestions**: Didn't find what you're searching for and you'd like to share what terms or topics you wanted? Click _No_ below. You'll then be able to submit your feedback about this article. **Please note:** the feedback submissions are anonymous, and we’re not able to respond, so make sure to use the next option if you have a specific scenario or question you would like a response to. **Support**: If you have a question or would like a response to your specific question, [tell the chatbot you need a human or send us an email](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-get-help-SygqcvtC5) to ensure that your message gets to our Support team!