# Quickstart for GitHub Educators In about 15 minutes, teachers can get started with discounts, training, and tools for GitHub, then create a classroom for the students in a software development course using GitHub Classroom. ## Introduction Educators who teach a course on software development can use discounts, partnerships, training, and tools from GitHub Education to effectively teach relevant skills to students. In this guide, you'll get started with GitHub, sign up for accounts and discounted services through GitHub Education, and create a space for your course and assignment on GitHub Classroom. GitHub also offers partnerships with educational institutions through the GitHub Campus Program. For more information, see the [GitHub Campus Program](https://education.github.com/schools) website. > \[!NOTE] > If you're a student and you'd like to take advantage of an academic discount, see [Apply to GitHub Education as a student](/en/education/explore-the-benefits-of-teaching-and-learning-with-github-education/github-education-for-students/apply-to-github-education-as-a-student). ## Creating accounts First, you'll need to create a free personal account on GitHub. 1. Go to GitHub's [Pricing](https://github.com/pricing) page. 2. Read the information about the different products and subscriptions that GitHub offers, then click the upgrade button under the subscription you'd like to choose. 3. Follow the prompts to create your free personal account. After you create your personal account, create a free organization account. You'll use this organization account to create and manage classrooms GitHub Classroom. 1. In the upper-right corner of any page on GitHub, click your profile picture, then click ** Settings**. 2. In the "Access" section of the sidebar, click ** Organizations**. 3. Next to the "Organizations" header, click **New organization**. 4. Follow the prompts to create a free organization. For more information, see [Types of GitHub accounts](/en/get-started/learning-about-github/types-of-github-accounts). ## Applying for teacher benefits 1. Navigate to your [billing settings summary page](https://github.com/settings/billing/summary). 2. Under "GitHub Education", click **Start an application**. Once you are a verified GitHub Education educator, you can access GitHub Education anytime by going to the [GitHub Education website](https://education.github.com). ## Set up GitHub Classroom With your personal account and organization account, you're ready to get started with GitHub Classroom. GitHub Classroom is free to use. You can track and manage assignments, grade work automatically, and provide feedback to your students. 1. Sign into [GitHub Classroom](https://classroom.github.com/login). 2. To authorize GitHub Classroom to access your personal account on GitHub, review the information, then click **Authorize GitHub Classroom**. 3. Review the information. To authorize GitHub Classroom to access your organization account on GitHub, click **Grant**. > \[!TIP] > If you see a **Request** button instead of a **Grant** button, you are a member of the organization, not an owner. An owner must approve your request for GitHub Classroom. You must be an organization owner to create and manage classrooms and assignments in GitHub Classroom. For more information, see [Authorizing OAuth apps](/en/apps/oauth-apps/using-oauth-apps/authorizing-oauth-apps#oauth-apps-and-organizations). 4. Click **Authorize github**. ## Create your classroom A classroom in GitHub Classroom is where teachers and students interact during a course. Teachers can create a student roster for the classroom, then create, assign, review, and grade assignments within the classroom. 1. Sign into [GitHub Classroom](https://classroom.github.com/login). 2. Click **Create your first classroom** or **New classroom**. 3. In the list of organizations, click the organization you'd like to use for your classroom. Optionally, you can create a new organization. For more information, see [Creating a new organization from scratch](/en/organizations/collaborating-with-groups-in-organizations/creating-a-new-organization-from-scratch). 4. Under "Classroom name", type the name for your classroom. 5. Click **Create classroom**. ## Next steps You've created a classroom, and you're ready to enrich your course with GitHub and GitHub Classroom! 🎉 * Manage your classrooms and classroom admins, and create a roster of students for your classroom. For more information, see [Manage classrooms](/en/education/manage-coursework-with-github-classroom/teach-with-github-classroom/manage-classrooms). * Use the Git and GitHub starter assignment to give students an overview of Git and GitHub fundamentals. For more information, see [Use the Git and GitHub starter assignment](/en/education/manage-coursework-with-github-classroom/teach-with-github-classroom/use-the-git-and-github-starter-assignment). * Create an assignment for individual students or teams. For more information, see [Create an individual assignment](/en/education/manage-coursework-with-github-classroom/teach-with-github-classroom/create-an-individual-assignment) or [Create a group assignment](/en/education/manage-coursework-with-github-classroom/teach-with-github-classroom/create-a-group-assignment). * Write and implement automated tests to provide immediate feedback to students directly in assignment repositories. For more information, see [Use autograding](/en/education/manage-coursework-with-github-classroom/teach-with-github-classroom/use-autograding). * Participate in the [GitHub Education Community](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/categories/github-education).