At IU, how do I purchase ESRI software?

Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) develops software and provides services for the collection, analysis, and communication of geographic information. Indiana University's site license agreement with ESRI provides options for students, faculty, staff, and departments to purchase GIS software at reduced prices.

On this page:

• Students
• Faculty, staff, and departments

Students

The primary goal of the ESRI Educational Site License Program is to support student learning and research by making ESRI technology affordable and accessible throughout the IU campuses. Students may request from UITS GIS Support a student edition version of ArcGIS Desktop ArcInfo 10.0. Faculty may request free software for students enrolled in GIS classes. Students must provide official documentation proving one of the following:

• Current enrollment in at least three units
• Current membership in a graduate program
• Current enrollment in a GIS Certificate program

Acceptable documentation includes:

• A class schedule indicating the school's name, student's name, and current term, as well as number of credits, graduate status, or GIS certificate program
• A letter from an advisor or department head on school letterhead

Note: Graduate students may request ESRI software while they are completing faculty-sponsored research projects that require ArcGIS Desktop applications. The student's advisor must contact UITS GIS Support and explain the research project, as well as why the student needs a copy of ArcGIS Desktop.

Students may request ESRI software from two weeks before the start of the current term to two weeks before the end of the current term. Students may use this software for educational and research purposes only. Students may not provide the software to third parties, use it outside of the United States, or use it for internships or work performed for non-profit entities.

Student license options are as follows:

• Educational Edition Individual Licenses: Licenses expire one year after activation, and include ArcInfo 10.0, four extensions (Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst, Geostatistical Analyst, and Network Analyst), and ArcTutorial documentation and data.
  
  
• Faculty-sponsored free ArcGIS Student Edition: Faculty can request software for their students at ESRI Software Promotion for GIS Students.

Students can also purchase Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop, a workbook for learning ArcGIS that includes a 180-day trial version of ArcGIS on CD (one-time install) and a data CD for exercises. It is available from both the ESRI Store and Amazon.

For information on free GIS software, see Accessing free GIS software.

Faculty, staff, and departments

IU faculty, staff, and departments can purchase ESRI products through UITS. ESRI software purchased from UITS may not be used for profit ventures.

Faculty can install ESRI software on IU-purchased or personally owned computers. Faculty may not provide software access to a third party. Faculty may temporarily use the software to perform work outside of the US, provided the software remains in the faculty member's control. Faculty must return the software to the US upon completion of the project. Software export is subject to US export control laws and regulations.

Staff can install ESRI software products only on IU-purchased computers and devices.

UITS distributes the software based on a pricing scheme designed to make the software as affordable as possible while recovering the cost of the ESRI Site License and Maintenance Agreement. The annual license for all ESRI software (August 1 through July 31) entitles customers to one year of the following:

• Technical support from ESRI; see At IU, who are the ESRI technical support contacts?
  
  
• Free updates (versions and patches) to licensed software
  
  
• Access to the following ArcGIS Desktop extensions: 3D Analyst, ArcScan, Geostatistical Analyst, Maplex, Network Analyst, Publisher, Schematics, Spatial Analyst, and Tracking Analyst
  
  
• Access to ESRI software on IUware; see At IU, what software products are available with an ArcGIS license?
  
  
• Access to ESRI Virtual Campus courses and 40% educational discount for other ESRI training courses (online or on-site)

The following list of available products is valid only for IU-administered campuses, and is restricted to the terms of IU's Site License Agreement with ESRI. The ESRI software site license does not provide hard copies of ESRI software or manuals. License payment requires an IU account number; credit cards and checks are not accepted. ArcGIS Desktop licenses purchased during the middle of a license year will be prorated for the remainder of the license year.

• ArcGIS Desktop ArcView: $180; some editing and geodatabase tools are not available (see What are ArcGIS product levels and how might they affect my software usage?).
  
  
• ArcGIS Desktop ArcInfo: $300; includes all ESRI site license extensions and tools
  
  
• ArcGIS Server: $1,500; includes unlimited use of ArcGIS Server, including ArcSDE and ArcIMS
  
  
• ArcGIS Academic Lab Program: $100; includes up to 40 ArcGIS ArcInfo licenses, and is available for instructional labs only (research labs are not included)
  
  
• ESRI Unlimited Program: $5,500; includes unlimited use of ArcGIS Desktop ArcInfo
  
  

To order GIS and remote sensing software, visit the GIS License System (requires CAS login).

New users must first register with the system by selecting Add User.

Comments/Questions/Corrections