Google gives students a free year of Gemini and quizzes for 9 exams
Google launched a set of AI study tools across Search and the Gemini app on August 19, 2026. Eligible college students also get a free year of a paid Google AI plan, on top of features Google says are rolling out to all Gemini app users.
In the US that plan is Google AI Pro, valued at $19.99 a month in Google’s own student offer post. It carries 5 TB of storage, Gemini Spark, Google Health Premium and what the company calls 4x higher usage limits. Outside the US the offer is Google AI Plus at $4.99 a month, in more than 140 markets, though Bolivia, Albania, Canada, Macau, Hong Kong and Tunisia are excluded.
Both offers need a valid form of payment at sign-up and have to be redeemed by December 31, 2026. After the free year each plan renews at its standard monthly price unless you cancel first. That’s worth reading twice, because the terms sit in the footnotes rather than the pitch.
| Plan | Who qualifies | Storage | Usage limits | Price after the free year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Pro | Eligible college students in the US | 5 TB | 4x | $19.99/month |
| Google AI Plus | Eligible college students in 140+ markets outside the US | 400 GB | 2x | $4.99/month |
The quiz feature is the piece with outside names attached to it. Search now generates practice quizzes for nine standardized tests: ACT, AP, ENEM, GRE, JEE, LSAT, MCAT, NEET and SAT. Google credits four education companies for that content, naming The Princeton Review, Careers360, PhysicsWallah and Akira Enem.
Practice quizzes are now globally available in English free of charge, in both AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Awaneesh Verma, Distinguished Product Manager, Search, via Google
Rollout status differs feature by feature, which matters because the announcement reads as one launch. Google says generative UI has launched globally in English in AI Mode and has started rolling out in AI Overviews too. Notebooks in AI Mode are due over the coming days across more than 180 countries in English, but a footnote in the Search post excludes the European Economic Area. The Lens learning experience is still weeks out.
On the Gemini side, the student hub lives at gemini.google.com/students and pulls the learning tools into one place. 9to5Google reported that the hub surfaces flashcards and practice quizzes next to the offer itself. Study notebooks, which Google shipped in June, offer a diagnostic quiz to identify your knowledge gaps, then build bite-sized lessons from your uploaded class materials.
Two additions there are still pending. Google says study notebooks are getting graphs and images in lessons over the coming weeks. The Verge noted that Gemini can add test dates and deadlines to your Google Calendar from a syllabus, and Google’s post says that happens only with your permission.
Deep Research reached Gemini Live on the same day. You ask for a report, close the chat or lock your screen, and Gemini works in the background and sends a notification once it’s ready. Gemini also generates functional 3D simulations now, so a prompt like “show me how DNA works in 3D” returns a structure you can rotate and zoom into.
Our goal is to bring lessons to life in the classroom and support personalized study at home, while keeping teachers in the lead.
Google, Back to School 2026
That framing sits alongside a competitive push. As TechCrunch reported, Google is aiming Gemini at students while OpenAI and education startups such as Knowt and Gauth sell their own learning and practice tools. OpenAI moved on the same ground when it made ChatGPT for Teens the default for under-18 users, so the age bracket is contested from both directions.
What none of Google’s posts carry is an accuracy figure. There’s no published error rate for the quizzes, the study notebooks or the Deep Research reports, so a student can’t tell how often a generated explanation is wrong. That gap is why our guide to using AI for research without inventing your sources still applies to every one of these features.
The number worth watching is redemption. Google set a December 31, 2026 deadline on the free year, so the count of students who claim it, and how many sit through the first full-price charge afterwards, is the measure that settles whether this landed.
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