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I am getting: "Sorry, your academic status could not be verified"

Thejashvi Venugoapl 5 Reputation points
2026-02-04T21:19:35.19+00:00

Hi. I am trying to verify my school email address, and this is the error message I am getting: "Sorry, your academic status could not be verified". I would like to have some assistance in getting this issue resolved. Thank you.

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  1. Anonymous
    2026-02-05T01:18:33.28+00:00

    Dear @Thejashvi Venugoapl,

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

    Based on your description, “Sorry, your academic status could not be verified” may occur when Microsoft’s automated academic‑verification system cannot confirm that the user is affiliated with a recognized academic institution. From my research, the most common causes are:

    1.The school’s email domain is not recognized or not in Microsoft’s academic institution list:

    Using a subdomain (e.g., student.university.edu) that the school never registered with Microsoft is a frequent cause.

    2.The user has not fully met verification requirements:

    • School email not verified
    • LinkedIn not linked (for offers that require it, like M365 + LinkedIn Premium)
    • Using a different Microsoft account than the one tied to the school email

    Therefore, I have several steps that you can try to see if they can help:

    1.Using browser in incognito/private mode:

    • You open your browsers.
    • Then press Shift + Command + N to switch to incognito mode.
    • Try to verify again.

    2.Confirm the school email is correct:

    • You must use your official academic domain (e.g., .edu).
    • If you used a subdomain, please kindly ask your school IT department to update Microsoft’s verification registry.
    • If the school isn't registered or the domain isn’t recognized, only your school IT admin can fix that.

    3.Ensure they’re signed into the correct Microsoft account:

    Sometimes users verify with one account but sign in using another. So please be careful!

    4.If these 3 steps above cannot help you, here is another method:

    User's image

    Please kindly take time to see details this partially similar case to have insights for the situation and this method: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5752248/academic-verification-failing-despite-school-email

    I hope this information can help you and as a Microsoft Q&A moderator, my role is to guide discussions and connect users with helpful resources. While I don’t have the right to access to individual account or your environment in order to verify it. However, I still try my best to support you using the resources available. So, please take a look in these steps above and follow them. 

    Wish you a pleasant day! 

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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  2. AI answer

    2026-02-04T21:19:41.12+00:00

    If you are receiving the message "Sorry, your academic status could not be verified," there are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

    1. Verify Your Email: Ensure that you have added and verified your official school (.edu) email address.
    2. Linked Accounts: Make sure your LinkedIn account is linked to your Microsoft account and that your LinkedIn profile includes your university information.
    3. Sign In: Confirm that you are signed in using the same Microsoft account associated with your school email.
    4. Manual Verification: If the automated verification fails, you may need to undergo manual verification. In this case, check if your institution is supported in the verification system and what documents are acceptable (e.g., student ID, transcript, enrollment letter).
    5. Contact Support: If the issue persists, consider reaching out to Microsoft support for further assistance regarding your academic status verification.

    These steps should help you resolve the verification issue you are facing.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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