I haven’t been a student for some time which is why I didn’t really look at that option, but maybe I should give it a go then if it’s that easy to get the student version. I think I’ll probably try Modo first though as it’s cheaper. I’m definitely just doing this as a learning experience like you say, but I’d like to have the option of releasing a game even if it’s probably not going to be good enough to actually make any money.
I’m unlikely to try and make a career in the games industry, and even if so it would probably be on the programming side and not the artistic/modelling side, but having some minor skills outside of my immediate comfort zone at work is never a bad thing. And I agree, it makes sense to work with a well known and used program in the industry.