[coley]

I'm a student of the Internet. I learn on it every day of my life. I'm guessing I don't count though because I'm not affiliated with a corporation that cares more about charging my bank account than making sure I learn anything.

[suyash]

Philosohical arguments like these don't make much sense on HN. By the same token, we all are students for life, either of Internet or of School of Hard Knocks. They also say .edu address so that should make it more clearer for you.

[coley]

I see it more of an argument of definition.

Students - People who pay to have information presented to them in a nice and comprehensible manner.

Not Students - People who scour the internet and books in search of information that aligns with their interests.

It seems a bit backwards to me.

Yes, the actual definition requires a 'student' be in attendance of a 'school' or 'college'. What about Wikipedia, KhanAcademy, Google etc...? Aren't these new schools that I can 'attend' and don't have to hop through a bunch of red tape, apply, or send them money?

[alanctgardner2]

So, in this scenario 'student' is a proxy for broke and young and impressionable. These guys want to give a discount to impressionable youngsters who will learn their tool and take it with them into their careers. It has nothing to do with actually learning things in school, and everything to do with where you are in your lifespan.

I'm sure you feel very good about being self-taught, but the fact of the matter is that if you didn't pay tens of thousands of dollars for a prolonged adolescence with some vaguely educational overtones, you're in the minority. You can hardly expect them to have a 'idealist' package for people who are 'particularly nifty' or ambitious. 'Student' is a convenient way to filter out a demographic.

[coley]

If it's simply that, then why restrict it to students, instead of by age? Most people under the age of 21 are broke, young, and impressionable.

I feel very good about the fact that I don't have to pay back debts for the rest of my life. I feel bad that a company that I look up to doesn't think the self-taught crowd are as worthy students as those who have it spoon fed to them.

[alanctgardner2]

Frankly, that'd be a fine policy, but it may well be considered discriminatory.

Not being in debt is awesome. Being self-taught is really cool, and I'm sure we could debate the merits of traditional university education all day. The fact of the matter is, wasting four years of your life and starting out deeply in debt is half the societal contract that makes you a 'student'. In exchange, you get to do student things. You get student discounts. You get a free pass to drink and be a git for those four years, if you choose. If you want to buck half the system, why not go whole hog and pay full price for GitHub? You're still saving $9958 a year over my education.

[jbarnette]

Have you asked us? support@github are real humans, I promise.