Figma’s Education Push: New Onboarding and Classroom Features
Designer Advocate Miggi Cardona, a former Assistant Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, has written about how Figma is preparing for the new school year. The company is expanding its Education plan, which already provides free Professional-tier access and unlimited collaboration to students and educators. This year, it is simplifying onboarding to make classroom setup smoother.
Cardona notes that Figma's role in education extends beyond being a design tool—it functions as a shared workspace for lectures, critiques, and collaborative activities.
What Figma Offers Educators
The platform aims to support multiple teaching environments, including hybrid remote and in-person models. By consolidating class materials in a single Figma file, educators can create a durable reference point. Instructors like Steph Kotula and Rian Long of Portland State University have used such files as the hub for all lectures, activities, and critiques, letting students track their progress or catch up on missed work.
Cardona also highlights how the visual, collaborative format promotes inclusivity. In his classes, the real-time, multi-user workspace encouraged quieter students to contribute more, and deaf and hard-of-hearing students found the visual medium more accessible than traditional verbal discussions. Community-building is another application cited: Julianne Burke, a UX/UI instructor at General Assembly, has students create a digital "yearbook" in Figma. Each cohort posts headshots, leaves notes, and adds stickers to one another's pages before exporting them as keepsakes.
Career Skills for Students
For students, Figma serves as a bridge from academic theory to professional practice. The design process is now highly collaborative, and using the platform helps students become comfortable with open processes and team dynamics. The tool also helps build portfolios by preserving the many iterations, research notes, and decision points that matter in design interviews.
Additionally, students can expand their networks through Friends of Figma groups, Figma’s Hackathon Program, and by remixing community files. A quarterly newsletter provides guidance on hiring season, portfolio reviews, and making the most of internships.
Cardona invites educators to join a group demo webinar to exchange classroom templates and ideas. He closes with well wishes for a successful term.
