As you go back to using school or campus Wi-Fi, always remember the disappointments with these networks. You can't reliably used them to access sites like Netflix, Spotify, or YouTube. They say it's so that to conserve bandwidth, minimize study distractions, or for whatever reason. Sometimes you can't even download educational material from legit sites. More often, students use VPNs to survive the boredom -- and you can too.
A virtual private network (VPN) enables you to circumvent school or college restrictions by assigning you an IP address outside your institutional network range, and by also encrypting your traffic so that no one can read your data. As a former teacher myself, I heavily relied on VPNs to safely access social media without someone snooping on me. Now, I just help others enjoy the same freedom as I did. Here are the top VPN recommendations for this fall semester.
What is the best school VPN right now?
Our best school VPN currently is NordVPN due to its consistent performance across the entire server network. It's also one of the most successful when it comes to unblocking online services. Subscriptions start from $3.09/month, and you can get it cheaper with a Student Beans account.
ZDNET has years of experience in the VPN market, and we have extensively tested, researched, and analyzed dozens of VPNs. Based on our research and backed by solid customer reviews, these are our other tested top picks for the best VPNs for school.
Also: Best business VoIP providers
Sort by All Countries and servers Usability Speed and performance Security Price
The best school VPNs of 2025
Show less View now at NordVPN NordVPN is one of the top VPNs available today and will fit the needs of any school or college user. Why we like it: This VPN has one of the most extensive server networks in around 126 countries, and is also very successful with streaming platforms. If you want to access, say Netflix, Disney+, ESPN, or quality free sites like Tubi and BBC iPlayer, it delivers. Special features like obfuscated servers (designed to avoid detection by school firewalls) and P2P servers for safely downloading torrents make it a step ahead of the competition. Review: NordVPN offers consistent speed and performance In our frequent mobile and PC tests, we've mostly found NordVPN to be user-friendly. Not just us, but customers also applaud the VPN app's ease of use and responsive customer support, which is why we highly recommend it for students who are firsttime VPN users. Plus, if your school Chromebook computer doesn't allow third-party app installation, you can easily use NordVPN extensions for Firefox, Edge, and Chrome browsers. Who it's for: Many love NordVPN for its advanced security, alongside fast servers. If you want solid protection over school WiFi, features like Double VPN provide encryption twice as strong, while a built-in kill switch and leak protection help to safeguard your information at all times. You can connect up to 10 devices simultaneously under one account, although we would like this to become unlimited in the future. Who should look elsewhere: NordVPN is inconsistent with it's pricing, and subscriptions renew expensively at $140 a year. If you can, sign up for their student discount (your institution details required) or during a promotional sale. Regular prices start at $3.09 per month on a standard two-year plan with three extra months added to the length of the contract. One-year costs about $59.88 ($4.59 per month), and one month of access starts from $12.99. NordVPN features: Simultaneous connections: 10 | Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Android TV, Fire TV, tvOS, and routers | Countries: 126 | Kill switch: Yes | Logging: Email address and billing information only | Money-back guarantee: 30 days | Trial: 7 days on Android Countries and servers 10 Usability 9 Speed and performance 10 Security 8 Price 7 Pros Large server network
Stable and fast connections Successful at circumventing blocks Cons No unlimited simultaneous connections
... continue reading