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SAM Grace Period

Students can use SAM without payment during the SAM grace period. The grace period lasts up to 14 days, depending on the length of the course and your institution. If students access SAM through an LMS, the grace period starts when the class is available. If students access SAM directly through sam.cengage.com, the one-time grace period starts when their account is first activated.
Note Depending on your institution's settings, your students might not have a grace period.
Note If your students access SAM through an LMS, don't set the class start date earlier than you expect your students to start accessing your course. Usually this is the actual first day of class.

During the grace period:

  • Your students can complete their coursework in SAM.
  • At the publisher's discretion, they might also have access to the eBook for your class, if one is available.
  • Each time your students access your class, they will be reminded to purchase access or enter their key code.
  • No payment method is required.

After the grace period, all of your students' work is still available to you. To continue using Cengage, your students must either purchase access online or enter a valid key code.