Changes to How We Communicate with Alumni
In support of the campus priority to align our resources, CU Boulder will eliminate the cost-prohibitive alumni email program so that those funds can be directed to the campus objective to cultivate a vibrant learning community.
Maintaining alumni email accounts is no longer sustainable due to rising licensing costs, declining usage, significant security risks from inactive accounts, and evolving compliance requirements. In alignment with peer institutions, CU Boulder will end the alumni email service on Aug. 31, 2026, instead leveraging personal email addresses for continued engagement with alumni.
If you are an alum who has a CU Boulder-provided email address, please read the following to understand how to prepare for this change.
If you are a student who will be graduating soon, you will retain access to your CU Boulder-provided email address for at least one year following graduation and more information will be emailed to you.
What Alumni Should Do to Prepare
By Aug. 31, 2026, alumni who use a CU Boulder email account should complete each of the following tasks:
- Provide the Alumni Association with a personal email address that the university should use to keep you connected with important university communications such as alumni news, events and updates. Go to the Alumni Association's Update Your Information page now to provide your personal email address.
- Transfer the emails you wish to keep to a personal email account. We recommend a number of ways for you to transfer the emails you wish to keep to a personal account. If you have a small amount of data that is truly important to save, consider manually forwarding those messages and attachments to your personal email account. Please note that CU Boulder will not be able to recover emails from your CU Boulder email account after Aug. 31, 2026.
- Update accounts that use your @colorado.edu email address. If you have connected your CU Boulder email account with websites and third-party services, these should be updated to use a personal email account by Aug. 31, 2026.
How to Get Help
If you have any questions about this change or how to prepare, please contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357.
Please note that the Office of Information Technology does not provide support for third-party applications. Questions about transferring emails and attachments should be directed to the vendor.
FAQ
Why did CU Boulder decide to end the alumni email service?
Maintaining alumni email accounts is no longer sustainable for the university due to rising licensing costs, declining usage, significant security risks from inactive accounts, and evolving compliance requirements.
We hope that by providing a way for alumni to be contacted through a personal email address, that alumni can stay connected to university news, events and updates through an address that they use more regularly.
Here's where you can provide the university with your personal email address.
Were other options considered for continuing the alumni email service?
Yes. The university explored other options including:
- Creating a new, separate alumni-only email service
- Allowing alumni to forward their colorado.edu account to a personal account
- Continuing the alumni email service as is
These options would not have addressed the issues of unsustainable costs and growing cybersecurity risks. Ultimately, the university chose an option that will allow us to focus on the campus priority of student success and containing the cost of a degree to ensure an education at Colorado’s flagship institution remains accessible.
For emails I wish to save or forward to another account, do I have to do so with each one individually or is there a way to save/forward them in bulk?
If you have a small amount of data that is important to save, consider manually forwarding those messages and attachments to your new email account. Otherwise, see the Outlook - Export or Transfer Email Messages tutorial.
What will happen to my emails if I don't transfer them by the Aug. 31, 2026, deadline?
After the Aug. 31, 2026 deadline, alumni email accounts will be deleted with no way to retrieve emails or attachments after they are deleted.
I'm currently forwarding my CU Boulder email to a personal account. Is there anything I need to do to prepare?
Forwarding will stop working after the Aug. 31, 2026 deadline. To continue receiving email from university, please use the Alumni Association's Update your Information page to share your personal email address.
What should I do about third-party accounts that use my colorado.edu email address?
If you have connected your CU Boulder email account with websites and third-party services, these should be updated to use a personal email account by Aug. 31, 2026. Remember to check everything from your bank accounts and streaming services to website logins and IoT devices.
I use my CU Boulder email for educational discounts or perks. Will this be affected?
Yes. You will need to update all accounts that use your @colorado.edu email address to a personal email address by Aug. 31, 2026. Any educational discounts or perks tied to your CU Boulder email address will no longer be available to you once the service ends.
I have been using my colorado.edu email account for my business or work place. What should I do to accommodate this shift?
We suggest sending an email to your contact list suggesting that they update your contact information and replace your @colorado.edu address with a personal or professional email address.
If I'm a current employee of CU Boulder and an alum, will this affect my email?
No. Alumni who are faculty or staff at CU Boulder will keep their colorado.edu account as long as they are actively employed by CU Boulder.
If I’m a former employee of CU Boulder and an alum, will this affect my email?
Yes. Former employees are not entitled to a CU Boulder email account and you will lose access to your CU Boulder email account as an alum.
What will happen if I'm an alum who returns to the university as a student, faculty or staff member?
Alumni that become reaffiliated with CU Boulder as a student, faculty or staff member will have their account reactivated. However, if reaffiliation occurs after Aug. 31, 2026, your deleted emails and attachments cannot be recovered.
If I’m a retiree of CU Boulder and an alum, will this affect my email?
No. Alumni who retired from CU Boulder will keep their colorado.edu account as a retiree.
What should I do if I'm a student who will graduate soon?
New graduates will get to keep their colorado.edu email account for one year following graduation. More information will be provided at the time of your graduation. You're welcome to provide a personal email address for the university to use after graduation at any time.
What should I do if I believe the university has incorrectly categorized me as an alum instead of as a student or employee?
If you are a current student who has been identified as primarily an alum, please contact the Office of the Registrar to verify your affiliation.
If you are a CU Boulder employee who has been identified as primarily an alum, please work with your department’s HR Liaison to verify your affiliation.
If the Registrar or HR Liaison are able to verify that your information is correctly reflected in their system and that you are shown as a current student or employee, please contact the IT Service Center for help regarding the Alumni Email retirement.
