[elicksaur]

LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg all use the same tactic with law schools. (Legal research search engines)

Provide free usage to students, so they get used to using it indiscriminately, then they charge on a usage basis for non-students depending on the plan.

[btbuildem]

Lots of corps do this (not saying it's great). Getting students familiar with the tools you make is one of the better ways of ensuring they'll want to use them at work. Some companies go as far as worming their way into curriculae, and having their software packages be officially part of the coursework.

[pvtmert]

microsoft is doing the same for tens of years now

especially in 3rd world countries, they even provide free materials and education... which is high ROI down the line