It does seem largely related to that, and it is both frustrating and confusing as to why Google and Microsoft have not developed features and plans that consider these problems, despite so heavily pushing their services to universities.
Just yesterday I had several emails back and forth with a student at another university who needed my help with some research software of mine where she eventually realized that, as a student, she simply wasn't allowed to share Google Docs outside her university at all; she had to switch to her personal account. This is on a project her university is funding. And yes, their IT could configure it differently, but so often, the defaults don't fit academia.
Just yesterday I had several emails back and forth with a student at another university who needed my help with some research software of mine where she eventually realized that, as a student, she simply wasn't allowed to share Google Docs outside her university at all; she had to switch to her personal account. This is on a project her university is funding. And yes, their IT could configure it differently, but so often, the defaults don't fit academia.