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Hello,

About a year ago, I applied for Figma Education as a K12 student and have been using it since then. My school does not provide students with email addresses, and when I previously asked about this through community support, I was told that it is possible to apply using a personal email address, and that if my application were rejected, I should reply to the rejection email with a copy of my student ID or similar proof. In the end, my application was approved right away without being rejected, and I’ve been using it ever since.

Earlier, I received an email titled “[Reminder] Re-verify your Figma for Education status by Sept 29th to maintain Pro access”

The email includes a link to re-verify my status, but the form linked there only provides the following options for “What type of institution do you attend or work for?”: “Higher Ed,” “Bootcamp or Online program,” and “High School (if permitted by terms below).” There is no option for K12.
I recall the form being different when I first applied. Has something about the eligibility requirements or the program changed?

Could you please advise me on what I should do?

Thanks

 

(When I sent it to the contact form, I was told that the Starter and Education plans are not supported, so I am sending it here)

Hi ​@Korange,

 

I understand that you're looking for the K12 option in the Education Plan application form.

 

If you're a high school student, please select the “High School” option on this application form: https://www.figma.com/education/apply

Just so you know, as part of our updated verification process for the Education Plan, high school accounts are now required to use a school-provided email address to be eligible.

If you're having trouble with this, please refer to the "High school applicants" section under step “2: Verify your education status” in our Help Center article: Verify education status

 

Thanks,

​@Junko3

Thank you for your reply.

I am a junior high school student (K12) in Japan, not a high school student.
My school does not provide students with email addresses, and the only documents I can provide as proof are my student ID card and a certificate of enrollment issued by the school.

I am also concerned about the wording in the form:

The information you submit here, as well as your use of and access to the Figma Education plan, is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. By submitting this form and using the Figma education plan, you confirm that you are of legal age to enter into these terms according to the applicable laws and regulations in your jurisdiction. For example, if you are a high school student you must be old enough to consent to these terms without parental consent under the laws of your jurisdiction (for example, 13 years old in the United States, 16 years old in the European Union, and 18 years old in Japan). If you are not old enough, you cannot sign up for Figma using this form.

I don’t remember seeing this statement before, and I think it may be related to why the form options are now only for higher education and above.
(As a side note, I believe the US age of 13 and the EU age of 16 are based on privacy laws like COPPA and GDPR-K that specify the minimum age at which someone can provide personal information on their own. If we were to apply this directly to Japan, since Japan has no such law, the age would effectively be 0 or above. But in this form, the age is set to 18, which I think refers instead to the legal age at which someone can enter into a binding contract without the possibility of cancellation. That makes it a different standard than in the US/EU, which I find confusing.)

What should I do in this situation?

Hi ​@Korange,

Junko is out of the office, so I’m stepping in to help. Since you’re under the age of consent and do not have a school issued email address, we need your school to apply for you to have access. A teacher or school staff member can get started by filling out this form.

In the meantime, while you wait for approval, you can also use the free Starter plan as a temporary solution. 

Hi ​@djv 

​This isn’t an activity for school classes or anything like that; I’m only using Figma for my own personal creative projects and learning. So it seems like this method wouldn’t really work for me, and I think it would be difficult to get schools to fill out the form.

After all, at some point, for some reason, individual K12 students were excluded from the program?

Thanks for clarifying, ​@Korange! 

We’ve introduced a new verification process for all users on Figma’s Education plan as of August 27th, 2025. This updated process is outlined in detail here: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041061214-Figma-for-Education#verifyedu

As it states, the Figma Education plan is primarily for high school students, because you now must apply with your school email to be verified. 

And as listed in the K12 EDU plan FAQs here:

“Who qualifies for the Education plan?


Figma offers 2 ways of accessing our tools, depending on the age of your students.

1. Teachers and students over 13 years old can get started on their own by signing up for our free Education Plan at Figma.com/education/apply, verifying their education status, and creating an Education team. Review our step-by-step instructions here. This will give you free access to the Figma Professional tier.

2. If you want to use Figma with students under 13 years old, your school must reach out to us and sign our terms for schools. This will give you free access to the Figma Enterprise tier. You can get this process started by filling out this form.”

While we haven’t completed excluded K8 students, access can only be granted through your school, if you do not have a school email address. Again, while I wish I could do more, it seems you best option will be using the Figma free Starter plan.

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