I dunno Birdman. IIRC, all my samples come shipped from Thailand. It doesn't make sense to me, but what the heck, I don't pay for it.
I think the requirements include a .edu email address, presumably one that has registered with microchip, or an email address from a company that does business with/ has registered for free samples.
Every 30 days or so you can get two different part numbers and a maximum of three pieces of each. Sometimes the samples on more popular models are backordered. There is also an agreement that probably says something about not sellings and what not.