This page summarizes information about the University’s Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA) for Adobe Creative Cloud, which is managed by ISC. This agreement provides Adobe Creative Cloud to eligible members of the Penn community at a more than 50% discount from the list price.
Adobe Creative Cloud is part of ISC’s Brokered Products portfolio.
All full-time and part-time faculty and staff of the University are eligible to obtain an Adobe Creative Cloud ETLA license.
The following options exists for users and use cases that are not eligible under the terms of the Adobe Creative Cloud ETLA:
| Population | Option |
|---|---|
| All Students (Undergraduate, Graduate, Professional, Doctoral) | Licenses can be purchased with a University budget code through the Office of Software Licensing’s Adobe VIP Program. Students of the Weitzman School of Design can obtain licenses through Design’s Adobe VIP Program. |
| Emeritus faculty and any other ineligible users | Licenses will need to be purchased directly from Adobe or reseller of choice. Adobe offers a discounted rate for students and teachers, which includes emeritus faculty. |
Eligible users can install Creative Cloud on multiple computers. However, the user may be signed in on no more than two computers at the same time, and the applications can be actively used on only one computer at a time.
IMPORTANT: Adobe does not offer any plans that allow for more than two activated devices. If a user needs to use Adobe Creative Cloud on more than two devices, they will see a message that they have reached their activation limit and must sign out of one of the other two devices first.
PennGroups facilitates a self-service, automated provisioning process.
Accounts will be automatically deprovisioned if the user has not signed into their Adobe Creative Cloud account within 90 days. Eligible users can reclaim their deprovisioned account by returning to the Adobe Account Analysis tool.
IMPORTANT: Deprovisioned accounts do not retain data. ISC recommends that users do not use the platform as a collaboration tool.
The Adobe Administrator role enables IT staff in schools and centers to view the Adobe admin console. There are three administrator roles:
School/Center Owner
Adobe Support Role
PennGroups Admin
Please note that Adobe Admins will no longer have the ability to grant eligibility exceptions beginning May 21, 2026.
On Wednesday, May 21, 2026, ISC will enable a change to enforce the ETLA’s eligibility terms to help ensure the University remains compliant. The scope of this change will include:
To help schools and centers prepare for this change, ISC will be provide Adobe Admins with user reports to help identify users that will be impacted by the change.
Under the terms of the University’s enterprise Adobe agreement, eligibility is limited to active full-time and part-time faculty and staff.
The terms of Penn’s enterprise Adobe Creative Cloud agreement limits eligibility to limit to active, full-time and part-time faculty and staff. The University must adhere to these terms to remain compliant and avoid the risk of an audit. Allowing exemptions increases the amount of financial risk for Penn.
According to the terms of the Adobe Creative Cloud ETLA, users can install Creative Cloud on multiple machines. However, users can only be signed in (i.e., activated) on two computers and only actively use the applications on one computer at a time. Adobe does not offer any plans that allow for more than two activated devices.
Populations of note that are not eligible include emeritus faculty, students, doctoral candidates, and UPHS HCOR and HSSP.
The terms of the current agreement limits eligibility to active, full-time and part-time faculty and staff. Expanding the agreement to include additional affiliations would significantly increase the cost of the enterprise agreement. Allowing access to ineligible users is a financial risk for the University.