[Garret]

In my opinion which CAD program you use really shouldn't matter. What I mean by that is that rather than teaching how to use software you should really be teaching the principles of CAD and drafting in general. I have used Inventor, Solidworks, ProE, Solid Edge, AutoCAD, Google SketchUp, and a few others. I can switch betweeen all of them relatively easily. When I started learning CAD (and now how I teach CAD to team members), we started with drawing by hand, then we move on how to use the various features, and so on. Basically it is just how to use CAD in general, because CAD is basically the same except for the user interface (and the more advanced features of the software).

But in general I think that making use of the Autodesk student website to get the software is the easiest way to get them using the software. if you can get solidworks to donate licenses that's even better because it runs the faster than Inventor on slower computers. However I think that which software you use really doesn't make a big difference if they are learning how to use CAD rather than just how to draw in a specific program.

I personally prefer to use Inventor because its free for students and they can download it at home on their own computer.