Students! Get a free custom Xbox controller with new Windows 11 PC purchases

Calling all high school graduates (or existing college students), Microsoft has just launched an exciting promotional offer to support that work/life/play student balance. It's called the Ultimate College Bundle, and it includes more than $500+ worth of freebies, such as a custom-designed Xbox controller, up for grabs when you purchase a selected Windows 11 PC.

This is great news for any students needing a device to handle their coursework, as well as a dedicated gaming laptop for evening downtime and streaming TV shows.

The offer can be redeemed directly through major retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and Microsoft, and applies to a wide range of Windows 11 PCs, including models from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft Surface. Just look for the blue 'Microsoft College offer' banner on specific products.

All you need to do is verify your student status after purchase with a valid .edu college email address, and customers will receive an email with instructions on how to proceed and claim the freebies via unique promo codes.

Microsoft's Ultimate College bundle offer is only valid until June 30th, 2026. For more student-only offers, check out our guides to Samsung's Student Discount as well as Apple's education offers.

What's included?

For eligible students in the US, you can get a full year of benefits with this Ultimate College offer:

• 1 year of Microsoft 365 Premium: including everything from Word and Excel to PowerPoint, plus Copilot built in.
• 1 year of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: a library of hundreds of games for PC, Xbox, and more devices with unlimited cloud gaming.
• A free Xbox Design Lab Wireless Controller: personalise your gaming setup with customised colours, skins, and accessories unique to you.

Windows 11 PC deals our top picks

There's plenty of choice when selecting eligible Windows 11 PCs to qualify for the offer, but here are a few standout devices that we recommend below.

Save 33% ($249.01)

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3x: was $749 now $499.99 at Best Buy

This is a great laptop for college students, ideal for working during the day and gaming when the work is done.

Read moreRead less▼

View Deal

Save 32% ($450)

HP Victus Gaming Laptop 15: was $1,399.99 now $949.99 at HP US

If you're big into gaming, this is the offer for you. There's a massive $450 off this gaming laptop, which is also ideal for getting all your college work done.

Read moreRead less▼

View Deal

Save 38% ($650)

Microsoft Microsoft Surface Laptop (2024): was $1,699.99 now $1,049.99 at Amazon

The Snapdragon X Elite chip should offer boosted performance and productivity for all of your study needs, and up to 20 hours of battery life should sustain you for a long gaming session too.

Read moreRead less▼

View Deal

Save 39% ($270)

HP Omnibook 3 16 Inch Next Gen Ai Pc 2k Ips Display Windows Snapdragon X 16gb 512gb Ssd Mica Silver: was $699 now $429 at Walmart

This next-gen AI PC is a superb choice for college students. Efficiency is king thanks to AI performance, plus the 512GB SSD will come in handy for storing files locally.

Read moreRead less▼

View Deal

ASUS Rog Strix G16 (2025) Gaming Laptop: $1,475 at Amazon

ASUS's ROG lineup is one of the prettiest gaming laptop series you can get (at least in my opinion), and I love the backlit neon keyboards. You get a powerful GeForce RTX graphics card and a speedy i7 processor with this model.

Read moreRead less▼

View Deal

Save 21% ($200)

HP Omnibook X Flip 2-In-1: was $949.99 now $749.99 at Best Buy

For a more premium experience, this PC is perfect for long lectures but also versatile, as it flips into a tablet for more design-focused work.

Read moreRead less▼

View Deal

Learn more about this offer, as well as the terms and conditions, plus FAQs on the Microsoft blog.

Creative Bloq is now easier to access than ever before with our on-the-go app, which brings you all the content you know and love from our website, but in a super-streamlined design.

Download the Creative Bloq app for iOS // Download the Creative Bloq app for Android