Over the years, some hardware manufacturers have had generous schemes for educational discounting, where products were supplied at up to 30% less than the commercial/retail price.

These days virtually no hardware products carry discount for any customer status, educational, government, or otherwise.  This is likely to be due to the increased competitive environment we all find ourselves working in, which leads to much tighter profit margins and the inability to offer such schemes.

However, this isn't the case for software. Microsoft and many other manufacturers have lower pricing both for persons in full-time education and for educational establishments.  This software is listed as either “education” or abbreviated as “EV”.