You need the MATLAB Compiler version for your release.
If you are in an academic institution and that institution has the compiler, then there are some circumstances under which the institution could compile the file for you. The license restrictions are a bit fuzzy in an academic environment. The interpretation that I have come up with is that in an academic environment, if the compiling was for the internal benefit of the institution rather than for the benefit of the student, then having the department compile would be acceptable. For example if the work you were doing was as a "summer student" helping a professor, then compiling would probably be allowed, but if the work you were doing was an assignment or project needed for grade or graduation, then that would be considered to be for your benefit and the department would not be allowed to compile under the license terms (according to my interpretation of the license.)
The MATLAB Compiler is the only product that can compile .m files to .exe. There is, however, also a MATLAB Coder product that was released around R2010b or so, that can convert very limited subsets of MATLAB into C code.
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