ITS and UVa logos for printed output

SPSS

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

Important Name Change Note

SPSS is now known as IBM Statistics. Version 20 is now available for Windows and Macintosh Intel machines.

Overview and Restrictions

SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a very popular statistical package with an intuitive Graphical User Interface.

SPSS may be licensed by faculty and staff for use on computers in the Charlottesville area. NEITHER GRADUATE NOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS may obtain a UVa site license for SPSS. (See below for student purchase and lease options for SPSS products.)

SPSS Availability

On the UVa Hive and in Computer Labs with ITS-Supported Software

UVa faculty, staff, and students may use SPSS on the UVa Hive and in UVa computer labs and classrooms with ITS-supported software installations.

SPSS Version 20 is on the Hive. SPSS Version 19 or 20 is installed in computer labs with ITS-supported software, on both Microsoft Windows and Macintosh machines. For a list of all labs and locations, visit the ITS Lab and Classrooms website.

On Your Own Computer(s)

Faculty/Staff

If you are faculty or staff of the University and have an office in Charlottesville where you work at least twice a week, you may obtain the site-licensed version of SPSS for home or office use. The site-licensed version may only be used while you are employed by UVa, for UVa-related work.

SPSS Version 20 for Windows and Macs (see note below) is available for download by staff and faculty from the licensing database. Questions regarding SPSS can be answered by staff in the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library.

SPSS Versions 19.0 and earlier versions: We are no longer issuing updated authorization codes for these versions. If you are currently using one of these earlier versions, it is recommended that you uninstall your current version, and upgrade to SPSS 20 via download from the licensing website, or by obtaining the disk from ITS Research Computing in the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library.

Students (Graduate or Undergraduate)

  • Purchase
    • The Graduate Pack version of SPSS (about $200 for a 4-year copy). Sold only to students, it is your copy to keep, and may be taken with you when you leave the University. It includes the Base, Regression, and Advanced Models modules just like those in the UVa site license.
    • Student version, available at Cavalier Computers. It is a scaled-back, limited-functionality version of SPSS Base, and it allows for some use of the Regression module. The Student version, for example, does not allow you to save syntax files or to submit syntax directly; pull-down menus must be used. Fewer options are available for some of the statistical procedures.
  • Lease
    Students may also purchase 6 or 12-month leases from e-Academy's On The Hub. Current SPSS options from there include:
    • Base GradPack 18 for Windows (6-month Rental) at $35.00
    • Base GradPack 18 for Windows (12-month Rental) at $70.00
    • Standard GradPack 18 for Windows (6-month Rental) at $85.00
    • GradPack 18 for Windows (12-month Rental) at $120.00

Students Working within Departments

Students needing access to SPSS on a department machine must have a faculty or staff member license it on their behalf and take responsibility for meeting the terms of the site license. Questions or concerns regarding departmental student access to SPSS should be directed to ITS Research Computing in the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library.

Other Users

Qualified individuals from the US and Canada can now download a semester rental version of the latest release of SPSS directly from e-Academy's website; check their site for current rental prices for the base and SPSS Grad Pack versions. Students need a verifiable school e-mail address and a valid Mastercard(R) or Visa(R) in order to purchase retail products from e-Academy's secure system. The rental version of SPSS from e-Academy has an expiration date of either January 31 or August 31, depending on when you purchase. This means you can purchase a rental version of SPSS for just one semester at a time—the ideal solution if you don't want to invest money in software you're only using for one course. For more information about e-Academy or to download and purchase the rental version of SPSS, please visit the e-Academy website or call (877) 616-0662 (toll-free in the U.S. and Canada) or send e-mail to info@e-academy.com.

Issues for Mac Users

SPSS 20 for Macintosh works on Intel processors only using Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard), Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), and Mac OS 10.7 (Lion). If you are running Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) you should upgrade to at least Mac OS 10.5 to use SPSS 20. Contact Nancy Kechner at the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library if you have questions about running SPSS 20 on an older Mac.

Modules Available

UVa has the following modules site licensed for Windows:

  • Regression Models
  • Advanced Models
  • SPSS Tables
  • SPSS Trends
  • SPSS Exact Trends
  • SPSS Missing Values Analysis
  • SPSS Tables Original

Installing SPSS on a PC or Mac

View our online Installation Instructions.

Page Updated: 2011-11-04

Standards & Policy

University of Virginia
Information Technology Services
2015 Ivy Road
P.O. Box 400324
Charlottesville, Virginia, 22904-4324 USA

UVa Help Desk: 434-924-HELP (434-924-4357) • 4help@virginia.edu

Page Updated: 2011-11-04; © 2012 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.

The information contained on the University of Virginia’s Department of Information Technology Services (ITS) website is provided as a public service with the understanding that ITS makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability of the information, including warrantees of title, non-infringement of copyright or patent rights of others. These pages are expected to represent the University of Virginia community and the State of Virginia in a professional manner in accordance with the University of Virginia’s Computing Policies.