We all know that being a college student is usually unbelievably challenging. Between balancing grades, mental health, and family and friends, the last thing a student needs is something else to worry about. Financial stress is very heavy on any college student’s shoulders, especially with everything else that is on their mind throughout a semester.
Student discounts are a huge help with taking a bit of that stress away. We have quite a few student discounts in Buffalo and online that are good to our wallets and kind to our brains, so let’s get to it, shall we?
Local Museum/Cultural Discounts:
Albright Knox: The Albright Knox Art Gallery offers $26 admission for college students, which is $4 cheaper than a regular adult ticket. You can purchase these tickets online or onsite at the visitor service desk. They also offer Pay-As-You-Wish admission on Fridays, which is onsite only.
Burchfield Penny: The Burchfield Penny Art Center actually offers free admission to all Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff with ID. All other college students get $5 admission with ID, and the second Friday of every month is free admission to all.
Buffalo History Museum: The Buffalo History Museum offers a $15 annual student membership, which is at least $23 cheaper than a normal individual membership. They also offer Pay-As-You-Wish admission, but the recommended admission price is $12 a visit.
Buffalo Museum of Science: The Buffalo Museum of Science offers $19 admission with a student ID, which is $4 cheaper than a regular adult ticket. They do offer student discounts on annual memberships, but you have to call or go to the museum to purchase the membership and verify the pricing.
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO): The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra offers discounted pricing for students with ID for single showings. However, they also offer a $29 annual student membership. The membership includes unlimited access to Classics concerts, and Pops, Rocks, Film, and special performances.
Local Food/Clothing Discounts:
Public Espresso: Public Espresso is a local cafe and coffee shop that serves breakfast and lunch, along with coffee and baked goods. They ask that you mention it, but as long as you have your student ID, they offer a 10% discount when you visit the shop.
Milk and Tea: Milk and Tea is another local cafe that serves Vietnamese and Korean style cuisine, including boba tea, wings, and sandwiches. They offer a 15% student discount with a valid student ID.
Half and Half Boutique: Half and Half Boutique is a local clothing boutique that’s right along Elmwood Avenue. They offer casual and formal clothing for women, along with accessories, shoes, and Buffalo Bills gear. They offer a 15% discount on full priced items with a valid student ID.
Online Discounts:
Student Beans: Student Beans is a website that has a wide variety of discounts for students. Currently, they have 10% off for Yankee Candle, up to 40% off for Nike, 15% off for Bose products, and many other offers. Most of their discounts are online, but if you download the app, you can check their map of in-store discounts by your location. I didn’t see any in-store discounts locally when I checked on campus, but you can check other areas. If you happen to find an in-store discount, you have to show your Student Beans ID at the store, which is located in the lower-right hand corner on the app. The only thing you need to do for access to these discounts is to create a Student Beans account and verify your student email when you sign up!
UNiDAYS: UNiDAYS is very similar to Student Beans, but there are more in-store discounts that I could see. There are a wide range of discounts on their site, from makeup and fashion to food and subscription services. They also have the student ID option you can show in-store to get your discount, and it’s also located in the bottom right corner like Student Beans. Again, the only thing you need for access to these discounts is to make an account and verify your student email.
Hulu: Hulu is personally one of my favorite student discounts, because it’s actually a pretty big discount. Hulu’s streaming service (with ads) is currently $9.99 a month, and that’s increasing to $11.99 on Oct. 21st. The student discount that Hulu offers with its monthly service with ads is $1.99 a month. That’s a massive discount, and definitely worth looking into. They use SheerID to verify student authenticity, so you have to enter your college name, full name, date of birth, and school email. Usually, it works within a few minutes, but sometimes they need more information to verify your student status, like a class schedule.
Spotify: Spotify is one of the biggest music streaming services out there, and their normal monthly subscription for Premium (with no ads) is free for the month you sign up, and then increases to $11.99 a month. Spotify does offer a student discount, so you can also get your first month after signup free, but the monthly subscription price is only $5.99. Spotify also uses SheerID like Hulu to verify you’re a student.
Apple Music: Apple Music is another music streaming giant, and their regular monthly subscription is free for the first month you sign up, and then costs $10.99 a month. Their student discount lowers the price to $5.99 a month, and also includes Apple TV for free for the duration of your time as a student. Apple is another user of SheerID for student verification.
Hopefully, these local and online discounts will help take some weight and financial stress off of your shoulders! Finding ways to explore the local culture and enrich your off time is so important, especially during the semester. Some of these have helped me immensely during my time as a college student, so I hope they can help other students as well.
