The free alternatives are not so good for beginners. One of MATLAB's main strengths is the embedded editor + repl, whereas with Python/Numpy/Matplotlib stack, there are just too many moving parts. The environment of MATLAB can be emulated with ipython workbook or emacs, but I don't believe it is easy enough for beginners.
Are you aware of Sage [1]? It's a Python-based, batteries-included, integrated maths system. It is actually more popular than Matlab around the lab here. Incidentally, we don't get much funding from corporations (but yes, we have licenses for Matlab, Maple and Mathematica for everyone, just somehow Sage is more popular).
