One of the best things about being a student is having the time and space to truly focus on learning more and preparing for the next stage of your life. To do that, you may find yourself taking advantage of other student perks, such as discounted software licenses, to the sorts of leading industry tools you can expect to use in your career post-graduation. Especially if you’re in a field like data science or computer science, having exposure to professional software solutions can really help boost your résumé after you graduate from your bachelor’s degree or master’s degree program and are looking to find your next job. With a free or discounted student license, it’s much easier to get that kind of experience.

TIBCO is one of the leaders in the field of data science software, so, along with tools like Tableau, you’ll likely want to learn how to use TIBCO Spotfire while you’re a student. From handling predictive analytics operations to offering powerful data visualization solutions with AI-powered search, there are all sorts of exciting features to dig into when you start to get your hands dirty with TIBCO’s platform. Read on to learn more about how you can meet the qualifications for a free student license and how the student version of TIBCO Spotfire compares to what you’ll use in the field.

How do you apply for a student license for TIBCO Spotfire?

While some software developers only offer discounted academic licenses, TIBCO strongly believes in helping the next wave of data scientists prepare for the future. That’s why they’ve established the TIBCO Academic Alliance, which offers a free, year-long Spotfire license to anyone who’s a student enrolled in an academic institution or working at a not-for-profit organization. To apply for access to the TIBCO Spotfire version for students, you’ll need to register online and provide a few pieces of information about yourself and your academic institution. The information you provide will include your email address affiliated with your school and might require you to share a photo of your student ID with a valid expiration date.

How does Spotfire for students compare to the professional version?

While TIBCO generously grants you access to their full software when it comes to their 30-day free trial, you might be unsure about whether or not they take the same approach to a year-long license provided free to students. Luckily, the answer to the question “How does Spotfire for students compare to the professional version?” is that it’s got all of the same features! When you successfully register as part of TIBCO’s Academic Alliance, you’ll receive a TIBCO Cloud account as well as a year-long license as a Spotfire Analyst, which gives you access to all of the powerful data tools that the Spotfire platform comes with.

Best of all, once your license expires, if you’re still a student at a college or university, you can renew your license for another year by reapplying for the Academic Alliance program. This means that you can get four years of access to TIBCO Cloud and Spotfire over the course of your undergraduate degree program, not to mention extra years of experience if you head to graduate school immediately after undergrad.

As a student, it’s never a bad idea to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to you by your status as a learner in a place of higher education. As such, it’s always worth investigating different academic discounts that might be available to you as a student, particularly if they can offer you the chance to build your skillset before entering the job force. TIBCO Spotfire is a great program for data scientists to learn the ins and outs of and put on their résumé to be a more competitive job applicant after you graduate.