MSDN Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) is a Microsoft program available to academic organizations, mainly colleges and universities, although there is also a high school version. The participating schools pay an annual fee for the MSDNAA service, in exchange for which, applicable departments (computer science, computer engineering, information technology, and related fields of that organization) as well as students and faculty can acquire licensed copies of Microsoft software such as Microsoft Windows, Visual Studio and other products. The list of software each college and university gets is dependent on the agreements made by that particular organization.

The software can be used in coursework and personal non-commercial projects. Students may continue to use these products for non-commercial purposes, even after they graduate.

MSDNAA software is accessed through a dedicated website run either by e-academy or by the university/high school itself. The service run by e-academy is called E-academy License Management System or ELMS. Access is determined by the MSDNAA agreement, but is usually given to students who meet certain requirements (must be currently enrolled in or teaching course(s) in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics).