New pricing and licensing model of Google Workspace for Education starting in 2026.

1. Core Licensing Rule: Full Domain Requirement

The most critical rule is the shift to institution-wide licensing:

• Total Enrollment Coverage: Subscriptions are intended to cover all students and staff in a domain. Customers must purchase licenses equal to their total student enrollment (including both full-time and part-time students) and all staff.

• Minimum Threshold: The minimum purchase requirement is the greater of 50 licenses or the institution's total enrollment.

2. Transition from the 4:1 Model

Historically, schools received one free staff license for every four paid student licenses. This model is being deprecated:

• Single License Type: Google is moving to a single license type for both students and staff to achieve feature parity and simplify management.

• Active License Mapping: Organizations are expected to cover each of their active Education Fundamentals licenses with an Education Plus license.

3. Compliance and Verification
   
   Student Enrollment Verification Letter (SEV): This document is required for all orders. The reseller will provide a draft copy to your institution for completion and return. Once finalized, it will be submitted to Google at the time of the initial purchase to verify that the order meets or exceeds the institution’s current total enrollment.

• Renewal Rule: All customers renewing on or after January 1, 2026, must adhere to these new minimum purchase requirements based on total enrollment.

4. Effective Dates

• New Customers: The updated pricing and rules became effective no sooner than October 1, 2025.

• Existing Subscriptions: For current customers, these rules and the new pricing (MSRP of $6 USD per user per year) take effect at their next renewal on or after February 1, 2026.

5. Managing Non-Core Users

To avoid paying for users who do not require the full suite (such as alumni), institutions can assign Gmail-only or Archived user licenses, which are available at no cost to help manage licenses within the domain.