<p>Here is a comparison of functionality between the two options:</p>
<p><a href=“http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/compare-microsoft-office-products-FX102898564.aspx”>http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/compare-microsoft-office-products-FX102898564.aspx</a></p>
<p>The subscription based service:</p>
<ol>
<li>Has more programs from the Office Suite (Access, Outlook, and Publisher)</li>
<li>Can be used on two devices (including a tablet) rather than one (but they must belong to the same user)</li>
<li>Gives you more cloud storage (1TB vs 15GB) 1TB=1000GB</li>
<li>Gives you 60 Skype minutes </li>
<li>Allows you to use someone else’s PC to access your files stored in your cloud storage account</li>
<li>Gives you any new versions automatically during the 4 years for free</li>
</ol>
<p>You can renew the service anytime during the last year of the agreement, but only once. So, it appears that if you renew just before you graduate, you can get 4 more years for the student price.</p>
<p>Purchased software is not really forever. It either becomes obsolete because there is a new feature that you really want in a newer version, or eventually it is not supported by a later version of the operating system which is required when you replace your system. An estimate of the “typical maximum life” of a version of Office would be about 9 years (three upgrade cycles).</p>
<p>The decision comes down to how much value do the 7 items listed above have for you and how important is it to you to have access to the latest features over the next 8 years. The more likely you are to want to upgrade the purchased product before 8 years, the better the subscription looks.</p>
<p>There is also a third option from Microsoft called Office Online which is free. This is actually a better tool for collaborating on documents associated with group projects (you can see each other’s edits in real time). It improves with every release, but I’m not sure I would want to use it as my only Office solution just yet.</p>
<p><a href=“http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/online/”>http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/online/</a></p>
<p>A recent WSJ article on the subject.</p>
<p><a href=“Do You Really Need Microsoft Office Anymore? - WSJ”>http://online.wsj.com/articles/do-you-really-need-microsoft-office-anymore-1407873198</a></p>
<p>There are other articles on the Internet, but be careful to note the dates as this is a fast changing area and many have old information. To make things even more confusing, Microsoft has renamed some of its products. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>