Sprint has teamed up with Best Buy to offer U.S. students one free year of talk, text and 1GB of data as part of a new promotion.

Under the new Unlimited, My Way Student Promotion, students who buy a new smartphone from Best Buy will also be eligible for the aforementioned free year of talk, text and data. Those who want more than 1GB of data can get unlimited data for $10 per month.

Requirements

Students will have to sign a conventional service contract, in addition to verifying that they are enrolled at a college, high school, or even middle or elementary school, within 14 days of making the purchase under this promotion. The promotion covers all smartphones in Sprint's lineup, but students can also opt for feature phones.

The Catch

It all sounds good and it seems like a very attractive deal, but there's a small catch. In order to take advantage of the deal that Best Buy and Sprint have going on, students will have to purchase a phone off-contract from a Best Buy store.

The deal does not require a lengthy two-year contract, but students will have to pay a "student activation price" in addition to the cost of the handset, which will drive up the cost of the device. In other words, the device purchased under this promotion will cost slightly more than a standard off-contract device.

While this may not mean much for a feature phone, smartphones can be quite steep off-contract. An iPhone 5S, for instance, would cost students $699 from Best Buy under this deal, compared to the $649 off-contract price from Apple. For that extra $50, however, students will get the one year of free talk and text and 1GB of data, so it may be worth it to some to pay more upfront.

Incentive

Sprint and Best Buy also have an incentive in place to make this promotion more attractive. Students who take advantage of the deal can refer friends and get an additional one year of free service.

Availability

The promotion kicked off on Friday, Nov. 15, but has a ticking clock attached - it's only valid through Jan. 4, 2014. Head over to Sprint's website to learn more about this deal.