GitHub provides hosting for git repositories and other services and tools for software development teams.
Northwestern's GitHub account provides the following benefits for all GitHub organizations associated with Northwestern University:
- Unlimited public and private hosted git repositories
- GitHub Pages and Wikis
- Access to a shared pool of GitHub Actions minutes
- Other benefits as outlined on the GitHub website
To take advantage of these benefits a GitHub organization must be associated with the Northwestern enterprise account.
GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is available for free for students, faculty members, and researchers via the GitHub Education program.
New signups for GitHub Copilot Business are paused until mid-June 2026.
Choosing the Right GitHub Copilot Plan
GitHub Copilot Business ($19/month) is required for:
- Faculty, staff, or researchers working on institutional or centrally supported codebases
- Software development involving restricted, regulated, or sensitive data, or projects subject to compliance requirements
- Team-based development where enterprise features (such as organizational controls and policy alignment) are important
An Azure subscription and blanket purchase order are required to pay for GitHub Copilot Business usage. If your department has an existing Azure subscription you may use that, otherwise please see the Public Cloud Services page to request one.
GitHub Copilot Student (no cost) is appropriate for:
- Coursework, skill development, and personal learning
- Individual experimentation, side projects, or sandbox environments
- Personal or academic research prototypes not connected to institutional systems
- Student projects that do not involve sensitive university data or production services
The table below describes the main differences between the Student and Business plans.
| Plan |
Data Classification Levels Allowed* |
Covered by GitHub Data Protection Agreement |
Cost |
| GitHub Copilot Student |
Level 1 |
No – data may be stored and used by GitHub |
Free for students, faculty, and research staff |
| GitHub Copilot Business |
Level 1, 2, 3 |
Yes – data will not be stored by GitHub |
$19/user/month |
* Indicates type of data that may be stored on the same system where GitHub Copilot is being used. Level 2/3 data may not be stored on GitHub.
Full descriptions of all GitHub Copilot plans can be found here: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/get-started/plans.
Available to
Cost
There is no cost to use GitHub under Northwestern's enterprise account.
How to Request Service
Click the "Request Service" button to the right.
Request either a new organization or your existing GitHub organization be enrolled in the Northwestern account. For new organizations, you must also provide your GitHub username.
Support Resources
- Organizations enrolled in the Northwestern account have access to the GitHub support portal to request support from GitHub.