Copilot @ Northwestern - FAQs

The most current pricing is always available via iBuyNU. Currently the subscription is $18 monthly. Annual subscriptions begin in July and end in June. The subscription price will be prorated for mid-year purchases. For example, a subscription purchased in May 2026 will be good for 2 months (May and June) and will cost $36. Please always refer to iBuyNU for costs as Microsoft may change current subscription pricing.  

Purchases through iBuyNU require a valid Northwestern chartstring; it is not possible to make the purchase using a personal credit card or other personal payment. Questions about iBuyNU may be directed to your school or department’s finance team.  

1. Login to iBuyNU.  
2. Click on CDW on the bottom right in the “Punchouts” (scroll down to locate this option). 

3. Click on Featured Software Vendors, and select Microsoft (Microsoft Software Titles).

4. Click on the Microsoft 365 Copilot Add-on Subscription license (1 month) – 1 user.

NOTE: Please ignore the “1 month” in the description. The cost is a prorated price based on the number of months remaining in the July to June subscription year. In the example below, the red arrow shows that the MFG# field shows how many months are remaining in the subscription year (4MO means 4 months).  

NOTE: Please document, in the comments section, the netIDs of the individuals that the M365 Copilot licenses are being purchased for.

This add-on is available only to Faculty and Staff. The free Copilot Chat is available to students, as well as Faculty and Staff.  

Subscriptions must be repurchased annually.  

Yes – please visit the Copilot service page and click on the “Request Assistance with Copilot” button to ask for updates to licensing.  

No.  

Yes. Please refer to this Knowledge Base article which explains how to use Duo with shared NetIDs. 

Copilot is a service that Microsoft has effectively introduced into virtually all their applications. However, there are some applications that allow you to 'disable' or hide the Copilot icon and features. Please review the following Microsoft support article for more information - Turn off Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps - Microsoft Support 

When you sign in to Copilot with your Northwestern NetID, your data is protected. Sign in to your Northwestern Microsoft account with your username (netid@ads.northwestern.edu). You will then be directed through the Northwestern sign-in process.  

Microsoft does not use your prompts or Copilot’s responses to train or improve AI models when you are logged in with your Northwestern account. More information is available in Microsoft’s data protection disclosure. Internally developed guidance is available as well. Northwestern Guidance on the Use of Generative AI: Information Technology - Northwestern University 

Using Anthropic models via Copilot researcher and analyst has the same security and confidentiality settings as using the "regular" Copilot, which is based on OpenAI models.

Information about Anthropic models in Copilot Researcher and Analyst is available here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/microsoft-365/connect-to-ai-subprocessor

Microsoft 365 Copilot is a subscription-based product that expands Copilot’s capabilities and access to your information within Northwestern’s Microsoft environment. Additional features: 

• Access and search your files across OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and email.  

• Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription available within M365 applications

• A Web/Work toggle is available with the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription, allowing you to choose between general web information and Northwestern files and data. This toggle is not available in Microsoft Copilot Chat (free version), which uses web information only.  

• Use preconfigured and custom agents, including “Researcher” and “Analyst” that are designed for multi-step complex work, along with Excel and PowerPoint agents for creating and manipulating files.   

• When using the Researcher agent with the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription, you can choose between Microsoft‑managed OpenAI models and Claude models from Anthropic. Built‑in Copilot agents use Microsoft‑managed models, while custom agents created in Copilot Studio can also be configured to use Claude. 

• Create custom agents with access to specific information or instructions for specific tasks. 

• Use Copilot Notebooks to bring together multiple documents and sources on a topic for collaborative project work.   

If you are using Microsoft Edge as your browser … 

• Ensure that you have the latest version of Edge with the following link - Update Edge - Microsoft Support 
• Click on the Copilot icon found at the top right of the browser window. 

For all other browsers … 

• Go to https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat. 
• Sign into your Northwestern Microsoft Account with your NetID and password. 

Review this knowledge base article for more information and limitations of the free version of Copilot Chat. 

With the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription, an icon appears in the ribbons of products like Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and others. For Microsoft Copilot chat (free version)  this is  only available within Outlook.

If you are unable to find the icon in your ribbon, you may need to check your ribbon customizations. You can do this by moving to the far right of the screen and clicking on the drop-down arrow (shown in image below). Adjust the settings as needed – you can hide and unhide the ribbon and also remove/add icons or reorder them.  

This page provides links to help you learn more about both Copilot Chat (the free version) and the subscription-based Microsoft 365 Copilot. It also includes information on effective prompting. Additionally, Viva learning offers courses such as this one to introduce users to the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription.