The demand at De Anza College for a Foothill-De Anza district issued .edu email address a may soon become a reality.

“De Anza College and the district are definitely considering the wish many students have to obtain a college email address,” said Marisa Spatafore, director of Marketing and Communications.

Policy issues and the mechanics of providing the email addresses would need to be discussed before making final decisions, but the topic of student email addresses is on the agenda for the May 1 meeting of De Anza’s Technology Task Force, Spatafore said.

Four out of five De Anza students indicated an interest in having their own .edu email address, according to a survey by the De Anza College Office of Institutional Research and Planning in the fall quarter of 2013.

In 2010,  only one in five students indicated interest in a district-issued email address. The increased interest stems from students wanting online student discounts.

A number of websites, such as Amazon, Prezi and Microsoft, offer discounts to students with a college-issued .edu email address.

“College students need to save money,” said Aaron Rumph, 27 biochemistry major. “Anything that can make them have less debt when they get into the real world.”

Rumph said he uses his DASB card to get discounts at stores such as Staples, but would also benefit from getting online student discounts.

Alex Ngo, 20, mechanical engineering major said he would use the email address to get discounts when ordering textbooks on Amazon and would also use it for communication.

“It’s hard contacting teachers now,” Ngo said. “They take forever to respond.”

Several other California community colleges issue .edu email addresses including Santa Monica Community College, Merced Community College and Peralta Community College.