ChatGPT Education licenses are now available for unit purchase for faculty and staff at the WebStore, with plans to release licenses for personal purchase for faculty, staff and students at a later date.
Powered by GPT-5—considered the smartest and fastest ChatGPT version to date—ChatGPT Edu is OpenAI’s model designed specifically for education. With ChatGPT Edu, faculty and staff can perform data analysis, integrate files, create custom versions of ChatGPT and more with the safety of a university license agreement. Learn more about ChatGPT Education license administrative controls, data privacy and security and more.
With the launch of ChatGPT Edu, we’re advancing a core Boldly IT initiative: strengthening generative AI and support. The ChatGPT launch reflects one step in our initiative to use technology and innovation to continue to propel our university forward.
Why ChatGPT Edu?
ChatGPT is a widely used generative AI tool globally and at U of I. Based on research about who was using ChatGPT already and consultation with IT professionals across the university, we decided to negotiate a volume discount for the purchase of 1,000 ChatGPT Education licenses.
As is standard for software made available by the university, ChatGPT Edu underwent a full security risk assessment to ensure that the product is secure for university use. “As one of our first direct partnerships with an AI vendor, this security risk assessment involved extensive collaboration to ensure robust data protection and regulatory compliance,” said Andre Krabbe, program director of Software Services, including WebStore. “The ChatGPT Edu solution we adopted provides substantially stronger safeguards—offering enhanced data protection, encryption and administrative controls—than the public consumer version.”
There is currently no free version of ChatGPT with data protection.
270+ faculty and staff at Gies Business tried ChatGPT Edu out already
Many Gies Business faculty and staff were already using ChatGPT to support their work, so piloting the ChatGPT Edu license made sense—not only to streamline training for people using generative AI tools but also to increase efficiency and easily share GPTs (customized chatbots) across teams. Tech Services helped with the deployment of these licenses.
Chris Tidrick, Chief Information Officer at Gies Business, said, “The ChatGPT Education licenses have certain differences from the various other ChatGPT licenses we were moving from, so providing support for users was critical. Technology Services has been a valuable partner during our migration and implementation, helping us work through issues that have arisen.”
How have Gies faculty and staff used it?
The Gies Teaching & Learning team created several customized GPTs to assist with course development:
- The accessibility GPT acts as an assistant for design and media teams by reviewing static graphics, motion design frames and image descriptions for accessibility compliance.
- The script-to-screen AI assistant helps digital media producers and course designers transform educational scripts into visually engaging content. The tool analyzes scripts and suggests on-screen text, visuals, custom graphics, etc. all tailored to the content.
The Innovation & Transformation team, alongside the Gies AI Taskforce, created a Travel Buddy GPT, which helps staff create business purposes for travel reconciliation and reimbursement requests.
Faculty have used it, too. Many Gies faculty now integrate ChatGPT Edu into their courses, encouraging students to use it for idea generation, proof-reading, conducting research, developing questions, deeper learning of course topics and critiquing AI outputs. Faculty also require students to disclose their use of AI.
With continued partnership with AI and the ChatGPT Edu licenses, the Gies AI Taskforce plans to create “starter” GPTs for staff for basic tasks, including a job description buddy, an annual performance goal setting buddy and more.
Building a culture of productive and responsible innovation
Gies College of Business Dean Brooke Elliot reflected on the college’s approach to AI: “At Gies Business, we’ve worked hard to establish a supportive and entrepreneurial culture in which we encourage our faculty and staff to use AI responsibly. Experimenting with new technologies allows us to test different ideas and use cases, which can break new ground and help us complete our work more efficiently. AI isn’t going away, so we’ve chosen to embrace it. These ChatGPT licenses—and rigorous training that goes along with them—will help so many members of our team think and work creatively and will continue to make us a place where our faculty and staff can do their best work.”
In alignment with Dean Brooke Elliot, ensuring responsible and secure use of AI tools is a key part of Illinois already. Krabbe, program director of Tech Services’ Software Services said, “Understanding how to use [AI tools] safely is just as important as knowing what they can do. Illinois Human Resources and the Office of the CIO have partnered with CITL, the Library and other key campus partners to develop the AI Professional Development Series to help staff become AI-literate and leverage AI tools responsibly in their work.”
This AI Professional Development Series offers two tracks that will equip employees with practical knowledge and skills to use AI tools responsibly and experiment how AI can help enhance their roles safely. This series will also be offered in the spring.