Chances are, whatever they're building doesn't need to be put in private repositories. If it really does (as in, they're working on commercial stuff), $7 a month (even $12) shouldn't be hard to scrounge up, and I'm an in-the-red student myself. After all, we all need to learn about business expenses sometime--and they're not having to worry about paying for food or rent. If a private repo is that important to them, most schools offer private server space. I say no.
It's quite a leap to say that students don't have to worry about paying for food or rent. I would go out on a limb and say millions of students do just that.
Don't get me wrong--I'm paying for food and rent--just for many (most?) it's covered in their loans/scholarship/whatever. I guess I wasn't thinking about people who work at the same time, though. (My school requires everyone to be on a meal plan and to live on campus or prove that they can live off campus, so I forget that people at other schools have to worry about it.)
