Grammarly FAQ
What is Grammarly?
Grammarly is a tool that helps people with their writing by checking spelling, punctuation, and grammar and assessing writing clarity. Grammarly is configurable by the user to customize its suggestions for tone, style, and other elements of writing. Writers can use Grammarly in the writing platforms they use, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word.
Why did we license Grammarly?
We received feedback from students for Grammarly and have licensed it for their use.
How will I get access to Grammarly?
Students can use their Amherst College account to log in to the Grammarly service.
What if I have already signed up for a Grammarly Free account via my @amherst.edu E-mail?
Your @amherst.edu Grammarly Free account will be automatically converted to a Grammarly Premium account under our College-wide license. No action should be needed on your part for this, though you will begin logging in via our single-sign-on gateway (the same purple screen you use for Gmail and Moodle), rather than with whatever password you might have manually set with Grammarly.
What if I have already signed up for a paid Grammarly Premium account via my @amherst.edu email?
Your @amherst.edu paid Grammarly Premium account can be joined to Amherst's Grammarly license. When you sign into your Grammarly account via single-sign-on, you will be given the option to either join your existing account to the College's master license, or move your account to a personal non-Amherst email.
How much did it cost?
Our contracts with our vendors typically preclude us from sharing pricing information publicly, but Grammarly is not an expensive product.
Don’t Google docs and Microsoft Word already have writing assistance tools?
They do, but Grammarly is a more sophisticated, capable, and customizable tool.
Why isn’t Grammarly Go/Grammarly’s AI writing assistance available when I login to the College-provided account?
The College is unable to provide Grammarly Go at this time. You will need to rely on a different account if you would like to utilize Grammarly Go.
Should I be concerned about privacy?
There is no requirement to use Grammarly if you have privacy or other concerns with the technology. Our contract with Grammarly does allow the platform to use writing it assesses to improve the product, but only in aggregate and anonymized form.