The University of Maine System (UMS) is making ChatGPT Edu available as a UMS-managed workspace to employees and active students. If you currently use a paid ChatGPT plan with your @maine.edu email address, this article explains what is included with UMS ChatGPT Edu, how it compares with your current plan, and the choices available for your existing paid subscription.
What features and usage are included with UMS ChatGPT Edu?
UMS ChatGPT Edu provides access to ChatGPT in a UMS-managed environment designed for university work. It provides many of the capabilities employees may already use with an individual paid ChatGPT account while allowing UMS to centrally manage access, security, permissions, and usage.
The current UMS configuration includes the following capabilities for faculty and staff:
- Reasoning model access
- Web search
- Deep research
- Projects, including creating, managing, and sharing projects
- GPT creation and management
- Access to UMS-approved GPTs
- Skills
- Image generation
- Voice
- ChatGPT for PowerPoint
- ChatGPT for Excel and Sheets
- Code execution in code blocks
- Internet access for supported code workflows
- Shared and improved memory
- Ability to share chats within the UMS workspace
Some capabilities available in other ChatGPT plans or higher UMS roles are intentionally restricted. The faculty, staff and student configurations do not include Work, Codex, early-access models, Pro model access, publishing GPTs externally, or installing/uploading skills. UMS may adjust available features as the service evolves.
How much usage is included?
UMS uses monthly credits to manage access to higher-cost ChatGPT capabilities. Faculty, staff, and students are assigned the same Advanced role, meaning they have the same core capabilities. Their included monthly usage allocations differ. The initial allocations are:
| UMS Group |
Monthly Credits |
| Students |
50 |
| Staff |
225 |
| Faculty |
350 |
| Power Users |
1,000 |
| Technical Users |
2,000 |
Most employees will therefore receive either 225 credits per month as staff or 350 credits per month as faculty.
If you belong to more than one eligible group, you receive the highest applicable allocation rather than adding the allocations together. For example, someone who qualifies for both the staff and faculty groups would receive the higher allocation.
Credits are allocated on the first of each month. UMS plans to review actual usage after launch and may adjust the model based on experience and demand.
How does UMS ChatGPT Edu compare with my current paid plan?
For many employees, UMS ChatGPT Edu may provide the ChatGPT capabilities they need for university work without requiring them to continue paying personally for a separate subscription.
There are some important differences. UMS ChatGPT Edu is an institutionally managed workspace, so available models, features, permissions, and usage are determined by the UMS configuration. An individual paid plan is managed by you and may provide different usage limits or access to features that UMS has not enabled.
UMS ChatGPT Edu also provides an important benefit for university work: it operates within the institution's managed ChatGPT environment rather than your personal ChatGPT workspace.
Because individual OpenAI plans and features can change, compare the capabilities you rely on today with the UMS Edu features described above before deciding whether you still need your individual paid subscription.
What should I do with my existing paid ChatGPT subscription?
You have two primary choices.
Option 1: Move your UMS-related ChatGPT content into ChatGPT Edu and discontinue your individual paid subscription.
This may be the best choice if UMS ChatGPT Edu provides the features and usage you need. It allows you to use the UMS-provided service for university work rather than continuing to personally pay for a separate plan.
Option 2: Keep a separate individual paid ChatGPT account.
If you want capabilities or usage beyond what UMS ChatGPT Edu provides, you may choose to maintain a separate paid ChatGPT account. That account should use a non-@maine.edu email address so that it remains separate from the UMS-managed workspace.
If you want to preserve existing university-related ChatGPT content, complete the UMS migration process before separating your personal paid account.
Important: Do not simply cancel or change your existing account before reviewing the migration instructions if you have chats, projects, GPTs, or other content you want to preserve.
How do I move my paid plan to a non-@maine.edu account?
If you want to continue maintaining a separate paid ChatGPT account, use a personal/non-UMS email address for that account.
Because the available account-management options can depend on how your existing OpenAI account was created, there may not be a single account-transfer process that applies to everyone.
UMS recommends the following approach:
- First, complete the UMS ChatGPT Edu migration process for the content associated with your @maine.edu account that you want to retain in the university workspace.
- Verify that the content you need is available in the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace.
- Use a non-@maine.edu email address for the separate personal ChatGPT account you want to maintain.
- Manage any individual paid subscription directly through your personal ChatGPT/OpenAI account.
UMS ChatGPT Edu Migration Instructions
The attached deployment recommendations establish the UMS migration timeline and configuration, but they do not document OpenAI's current procedures for changing an account email address or transferring an individual paid subscription. Refer to the migration instructions above for the UMS-supported process rather than assuming an existing paid subscription or workspace content can automatically be transferred.
How do usage limits work in the UMS Edu workspace?
Your UMS role determines the features you can access, while your UMS group determines your monthly credit allocation.
For example, standard faculty and staff both use the Advanced role and therefore receive the same core capabilities. Staff currently receive 225 monthly credits, while faculty receive 350.
Not every ChatGPT interaction necessarily has the same resource requirements. Your available usage will therefore depend on the features and models you use.
UMS will review credit allocation and actual usage after launch. The rollout plan calls for reviews at approximately 30, 60, and 90 days, allowing UMS to evaluate whether the initial allocations appropriately support university needs.
What if the included usage does not meet my work needs?
The initial credit allocations are intended to provide a starting point while UMS gathers actual usage information.
If you consistently need more capacity to perform your university work, you will be able to request an increased allocation through the UMS process.
Request Additional ChatGPT Edu Usage
Higher-use groups are planned for employees with demonstrated needs, including Power User and Technical tiers. These tiers provide higher monthly allocations and are intended for specialized or sustained use cases.
The detailed approval, billing, and request process for additional credits is still being finalized. The deployment recommendations specifically identify additional-credit requests as an item to be addressed as part of the 30-day review.
Before making a decision
If you currently pay for ChatGPT using an account associated with your @maine.edu address:
- Review the features included with UMS ChatGPT Edu.
- Identify any paid-plan capabilities you currently depend on.
- Review your existing ChatGPT content and determine what you want to preserve.
- Complete the UMS migration process for content you want retained in ChatGPT Edu.
- Verify your important content after migration.
- Decide whether UMS ChatGPT Edu meets your university work needs.
- If you want a separate paid account, use a non-@maine.edu email address.
- If your UMS allocation is insufficient for your work, submit an additional-usage request once that process is available.
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