AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
Is there an NVIDIA student discount?
NVIDIA publishes no fixed student discount percentage. It does offer many free self-paced courses, paid ones from $30, and a NVIDIA perk card with credits that vary in the AI Perks catalogue.
That card shows who qualifies and how to claim, so you do not have to hunt through vendor pages. AI Perks also tracks more student offers beyond NVIDIA, which matters if your project needs real GPU time and not just coursework.
NVIDIA says it often offers discounts, including for academia, but it gives no percentage here. It also says it provides education discounts on hardware and software, again without prices or terms. Treat any specific figure you see elsewhere as unconfirmed until you see it on a vendor page or a perk card.
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NVIDIA Varies
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
What is actually free for students?
More than most people expect. NVIDIA says it offers many self-paced courses for developers for free, and many of the free ones are beginner-friendly and can be finished in a day or less. Select Deep Learning Institute (DLI) courses award a certificate, which helps if you want something to put on a CV.
Free access also comes through a developer membership. It gives you free access to tools, software, webinars, early-access programs, forums and videos. New members also receive a pass for a free DLI course that teaches new skills in under an hour.
Open source course materials
NVIDIA also publishes open source course materials that are free to download, modify and redistribute within each license. They use the Apache License 2.0 and CC BY 4.0, and there is no registration or enrollment required.
You can run the code, notebook and lab guide locally on Windows or Linux if you have an NVIDIA GPU. If you do not, NVIDIA Brev offers pre-configured GPU environments with one click. The catch: NVIDIA does not currently offer certificates for completing an open source course.
Instructor-led kits
Some courses reach students through instructors. Educators who join a teaching kit can receive free DLI course codes for themselves and their students, worth up to $90 per course per student. This access is subject to limits and approval by NVIDIA's administration.
Those courses include a self-paced environment with a cloud GPU-accelerated workstation. Students need only a web browser and an internet connection. Ask your instructor whether your course uses one.
What does NVIDIA training cost when it is not free?
Free is not the whole picture. Here are the price points NVIDIA publishes.
| Training type | Starting price |
|---|---|
| Free self-paced courses | Free |
| Paid self-paced courses | From $30 |
| Public workshop seat | From $500 |
| Private workshop | From $10,000 |
| Instructor-supplied course codes | Worth up to $90 per course per student |
For a student, the realistic choices are free courses, a $30 paid course, or a course code from your instructor. A public workshop seat at $500 sits far above the $30 entry price. Private workshops at $10,000 are aimed at teams, not individuals.
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Apply directly through these verified programs.
NVIDIA Varies
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
What are the real limits?
The limits are easy to miss, so check them before you plan a project around any of this.
- Workshop labs are time-boxed. Lab environments are open only during the workshop's training hours.
- Materials expire. Workshop materials stay online for up to 6 months from the start of the course.
- Content can disappear. NVIDIA says training content may change or be discontinued at its discretion.
- Expiry dates are fixed. Courses can be phased out, and course expiration dates cannot be adjusted.
- Some offers have ended. The 50% certification exam discount on one generative AI kit ran only through May 31, 2026, so it is over.
- Faculty grants are closed. An academic grant route for faculty is not currently accepting new applications.
The generative AI kit itself has nine modules covering NLP, transformer architectures, diffusion models, multimodal learning, model training, LLM orchestration and distributed workload scaling. It also offers a limited number of free self-paced courses with certificates for students. "Limited" is the key word, so ask early.
Where do bigger GPU credits come from?
Courses teach you the skills, but a real project needs compute. This is where the catalogue goes further than any single vendor. The amounts below come from the AI Perks catalogue, and each row links to that perk's own card.
| Company | Free credits | How to get |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | Credits vary | Get this perk |
| Modal | $50,000 | Get this perk |
| RunPod | $1,000 | Get this perk |
| Together AI | Up to $50,000 | Get this perk |
Total across the listed amounts: $50,000 (Modal) + $1,000 (RunPod) + up to $50,000 (Together AI), plus NVIDIA credits that vary.
Each card shows who qualifies and how to claim. For a course project, $1,000 in RunPod credits is a practical starting size. For heavier training or inference work, $50,000 in Modal credits is far larger.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
NVIDIA Varies
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
How do you get started, step by step?
Step 1: Get credits via AI Perks. Open getaiperks.com, find the NVIDIA, Modal, RunPod and Together AI cards, and read who qualifies and how to claim on each. You can also browse other student and education cards in the same catalogue.
Step 2: Create your NVIDIA account. To enroll in any course you need an NVIDIA account and a training profile. Do this before you pick a course, so enrollment is quick.
Step 3: Start with a free course. Pick a beginner-friendly self-paced course that you can finish in a day or less. If a certificate matters, check that your chosen course is one of the select courses that award one.
Step 4: Use the open source materials for your project. Download the code and notebook from GitHub. Run them locally if you have an NVIDIA GPU, or use Brev for a one-click GPU environment.
Step 5: Move to larger credits for the build. When your project outgrows a course lab, use a compute card from the table above. Keep your own copies of anything you need, since course content can be discontinued.
For more on how universities and labs use these offers, see Free AI Credits for University Labs: 2026 Provider Guide. For a wider comparison of student options, read Free AI Credits for Students 2026: Every Program Compared.
FAQ
Are NVIDIA DLI courses free for students?
Many are. NVIDIA says it offers many self-paced courses for free, and paid self-paced courses start at $30. Free ones are often beginner-friendly and can be finished in a day or less. Check each course page for its price before you enroll, since content can change over time.
Do the open source NVIDIA courses give a certificate?
No. NVIDIA does not currently offer certificates for completing an open source course. The materials are free to download and openly licensed, with no registration or enrollment required. If you want a certificate, look for select DLI courses that award one, and confirm that on the course page.
Can I get GPU access without owning an NVIDIA GPU?
Yes. NVIDIA Brev offers one-click pre-configured GPU environments for the open source courses, and instructor-led course kits include a cloud GPU workstation you reach from a browser. For bigger workloads, the compute cards at getaiperks.com list amounts up to $50,000.
Is the 50% certification exam discount still available?
No. The 50% discount on two generative AI certification exams ran only through May 31, 2026, so it has ended. NVIDIA does say it often offers other discounts, including for academia, but publishes no percentage. Check the NVIDIA perk card for current details.
How long do workshop materials and labs stay available?
Workshop training materials stay online for up to 6 months from the start of the course, subject to the terms of use. Lab environments are open only during the workshop's training hours. Save your notes and code as you go, because NVIDIA can change or discontinue content.
Where can I find larger free credits for a student project?
The AI Perks catalogue lists Modal at $50,000, Together AI at up to $50,000 and RunPod at $1,000, plus NVIDIA credits that vary. Each card explains who qualifies and how to claim. Browse them all at getaiperks.com, or compare options in AI Student Discount 2026: Every Verified Offer Listed.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
NVIDIA Varies
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
Ready to find student credits?
NVIDIA's free courses are a strong start, and the catalogue is where the bigger compute credits live. Open the cards, check who qualifies, and claim what fits your project.
Get free AI credits at getaiperks.com →
Browse student and education perk cards, and find your next GPU credits, at getaiperks.com.
