Academic & Education Program — Free Benecaster for Campus Podcasts
Campus Podcast? It’s on Us.
Students, faculty, and staff producing podcasts for their educational institution get a free Growth plan — private subscriber feeds, subscriber management, and the full episode toolkit. No card required. No platform fees. Yours to keep while you’re affiliated.
Need more than Growth? Higher plans are available at 20% off for qualifying institutions.
Built for the Shows Built by and for Campuses.
Benecaster’s Academic Program covers current students, faculty, and staff producing podcasts in an institutional context. That includes:
Students
Campus radio, journalism school shows, research podcasts, student union productions, course projects, anything produced as part of campus life or coursework — if it’s connected to your institution, it qualifies.
Faculty
Research communication, course supplements, public outreach affiliated with a department or institution. The show should be produced in your institutional role, not as an independent personal project.
Staff
Communications, HR, alumni relations, library, or any other institutional department using podcasting as a medium for their work.
Not included:
A professor’s personal podcast on a topic unrelated to their university role. A podcast by alumni with no current enrollment or employment. A for-profit production that happens to have a student among the team.
When in doubt: If the show would appear on your institution’s website or be produced under the institution’s name or logo, it qualifies.
Full Growth Plan. No Charge.
The Growth plan covers up to 250 paying subscribers and 2,500 total tokens — the tier where most campus and community shows will live comfortably for a long time. What’s included:
- Private subscriber feeds — unique token-based RSS URLs per subscriber, compatible with every podcast app
- Subscription plugin bridges — MemberPress, WooCommerce Subscriptions, Paid Memberships Pro, Restrict Content Pro — or Benecaster’s built-in membership system
- Per-tier episode scheduling and availability date controls
- Subscriber management dashboard with tier breakdown and feed access history
- Token reset (admin and subscriber self-service)
- Subscriber account page with RSS URL, QR code, and one-tap deep links to podcast apps
- Full data export — your subscribers and their data are always yours to take with you
If Growth isn’t enough:
Institutions with larger audiences or multiple shows can apply for Starter, Pro, Multi-Show, or Studio at 20% off the published price. Select the plan you need on the application form — if approved, we’ll email you a one-use coupon code, valid for 14 days.
Apply, Verify, Get Started.
Step 1 — Submit the form below
Tell us about your institution and your podcast. Upload a document on official school letterhead confirming the show’s name and its connection to the institution. If your institution issues .edu email addresses, use that address on your application.
Step 2 — We verify
Applications with a .edu email address and a valid letterhead document are approved automatically. You’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to connect your Benecaster account. All other applications are reviewed and you’ll hear back from us.
Step 3 — You’re in
Click the link in your approval email to connect via OAuth — your Growth plan activates the moment you authorize. Install Benecaster on your WordPress site and sign in to your Benecaster account; the plugin connects automatically. For higher plans, you’ll receive a 20% off coupon code to use at checkout instead.
The program renews annually. We’ll email you a year from your approval date to confirm you’re still affiliated. That’s it.
Academic Program Application
Fill out the form below. If your institution issues .edu email addresses, use that address here — applications with a .edu address and a valid letterhead document are approved automatically. All other applications are reviewed and we’ll be in touch.
FAQs
Questions Not Covered Above?
Email us at support@benecaster.com with “Academic program” in the subject line. We read everything.
