I didn't know about that - they seem to keep that pretty hidden. In contrast github makes it very visible that they support academics.
In any case - the one benefit of running my own is that not only can I pre-provision the repos but the accounts as well. Getting students to use git is a challenge itself (it can be rather difficult to use if you don't understand the idea behind it - and pushing using SSH can also be difficult if you have never used SSH or keys before) but putting an account they can use/login with in their hands is half the battle.
In any case - the one benefit of running my own is that not only can I pre-provision the repos but the accounts as well. Getting students to use git is a challenge itself (it can be rather difficult to use if you don't understand the idea behind it - and pushing using SSH can also be difficult if you have never used SSH or keys before) but putting an account they can use/login with in their hands is half the battle.