Learn what's included with the Microsoft 365 license North Central University provides with your account — which license you have, whether you can install the Office apps or use them in a web browser, how much email and file storage you get, and what happens to your access when you leave NCU.
Which license you have
NCU provides a Microsoft 365 education license with every account, at no cost to you. There is nothing to purchase, request, or activate — the license is attached to your NCU account and is already active. You sign in to everything with your NCU email address and password.
There are two license levels. Which one you have depends on your role:
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Enrolled students
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A3
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Full-time and part-time employees — staff, faculty, and administrators
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A3
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Eligible Student workers — on both their student and employee accounts
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A3
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Adjunct faculty & Temporary Assignments
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A1
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A3 and A1 side by side
The core services are the same on both licenses. The difference is whether you can install the Office apps on your own computer or use them in a web browser.
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Feature
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A3
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A1
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Office apps in a web browser
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook
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Yes
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Yes
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Office apps installed on your computer
Windows and Mac desktop versions
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Yes
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No
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Office apps on phone and tablet
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Yes — any device
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Editing on screens 10.9" or smaller
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Outlook email and calendar
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Yes
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Yes
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Teams
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Yes
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Yes
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OneDrive and SharePoint
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Yes
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Yes
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Access
Windows only
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Yes
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No
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Getting the apps
Everything starts at portal.office.com. Sign in with your NCU email address and password.
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In a browser
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Open any app directly from the portal. Nothing to install. Available on both A3 and A1.
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On your computer
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Use the Install apps button in the portal. Available on A3 only.
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On phone or tablet
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Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play, then sign in with your NCU account to activate.
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How many devices you can install on
A3 covers installation on up to 5 computers (any mix of Windows and Mac), 5 tablets, and 5 phones.
These are for your personal devices. University-owned computers already have Office installed — you never need to spend an install on an NCU machine.
Those installs are for your devices, not your household
Install on your own laptop, desktop, phone, and tablet — that is the intent. What the license does not cover is installing on someone else's computer: a spouse, a child, a roommate, or a colleague. Each person needs their own license.
If you remember Microsoft's Home Use Program, this is the piece that changed. There is no longer a family or household component.
Do not buy Microsoft Office. If you already own a personal copy you can keep it, but you do not need it.
Working in the browser
The browser versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint handle everyday work — writing, grading, building slides, and sharing files. They save automatically to OneDrive as you work. If you have A1, this is your primary way of using Office.
Files are fully compatible
Documents created in the browser are ordinary Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Colleagues and students using the desktop apps can open and edit them normally, and you can open anything they send you. There is no separate file format and nothing is downgraded.
What the browser versions can't do
- Work offline. The browser apps need an internet connection. If you work somewhere without reliable service, there is no workaround within A1.
- Mail merge. Not available in Word for the web.
- Complex Excel work. Creating pivot tables, running add-ins, and handling very large workbooks are limited.
- Tracked changes on long documents. Workable, but slower than the desktop app.
On your phone or tablet
Install the Office apps from the Apple App Store or Google Play and sign in with your NCU account. Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive work without restriction on any device and on either license.
A1 and large tablets
Microsoft limits editing in the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote mobile apps to screens of 10.9 inches or smaller on an A1 license. Viewing works on any size screen. A3 has no such limit.
Phones and an iPad mini fall under the limit. An iPad Air (11") or iPad Pro (13") is over it, and documents will open read-only in the apps.
This applies only to the installed apps. Office in a web browser has no screen size limit — open Safari or Chrome on the tablet, go to portal.office.com, and edit normally.
Email and file storage
Storage is the same on both licenses.
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Outlook mailbox
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100 GB of email storage, plus your NCU calendar and contacts. Also reachable at outlook.northcentral.edu.
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OneDrive
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Personal cloud storage for your NCU files, available from any device you sign in to. The OneDrive sync app can be installed on your computer on either license, which keeps a copy of your files in a normal folder.
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SharePoint and Teams
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Shared storage for departments, courses, and project teams. This space belongs to the team, not to your individual license.
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Other included services
These are available in a browser at portal.office.com with no additional setup, on both A3 and A1.
Included with your license
- Forms: Surveys, quizzes, and registration forms with automatic response collection.
- Planner and To Do: Task tracking for teams and for yourself.
- Whiteboard: Shared digital canvas for brainstorming and class sessions.
- Stream: Video hosting for recorded meetings and lectures.
- Clipchamp: Basic video editing in the browser.
- Bookings: Appointment scheduling pages tied to your NCU calendar.
What isn't included
A few Microsoft products are licensed separately and are not part of either NCU license.
Licensed separately
- Visio (desktop): Diagramming software. Viewing a Visio file in a browser works without a license; creating and editing does not.
- Project (desktop): Project management and scheduling software.
- Power BI Pro: Publishing and sharing Power BI reports.
If your role requires one of these, contact the IT Service Desk to discuss options.
If you have A1 and need the desktop apps
Installing Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook on your own computer requires an A3 license, which NCU purchases for full-time and part-time employees. It is not included with adjunct appointments.
If a course requirement can't be met in the browser
Limited exceptions are made where a course cannot be taught without the desktop apps. Start with your department lead — requests are not submitted by individual faculty, and the IT Service Desk cannot start one for you.
Your department lead works with the Academic Affairs office, which confirms that the instructional requirement is one the browser versions cannot meet. That determination is what the request rests on.
The IT Service Desk cannot assign a license on request, but we can confirm what your current license includes and help you find a way to accomplish a specific task. Call 612.343.4170 or visit Miller Hall 226.
When your license ends
Your license is active only while you are an enrolled student or a current employee. When that ends, so does the license.
Back up your files before you leave
Your NCU email and OneDrive files become inaccessible once your account is deactivated. If you installed the desktop apps, they switch to a reduced-functionality mode — you can open and print existing documents, but you cannot create or edit them.
Copy anything you want to keep to a personal account or external drive before your last day or your graduation date.
If you had desktop Office before 2024
Adjunct faculty who taught at NCU before August 2024 were able to install desktop Office. That came from a free Microsoft license called Office 365 A1 Plus, which included the desktop apps at no charge to the university.
Microsoft discontinued A1 Plus on August 1, 2024 and retired the remaining licenses through 2025. The license no longer exists for any institution. Everyone who held it moved to A1, which is the same product without desktop installation. NCU did not downgrade adjunct accounts, and there is no setting that restores desktop Office to an A1 license.
Adjunct accounts have never carried A3, before or after this change. What A1 Plus did was provide the desktop apps for free; when Microsoft withdrew it, that option ended for every college and university at once.